Cohen continues spinning toward Olympics
ST. LOUIS – Sasha Cohen no longer is limiting herself, making her future seem limitless.
Coming off a bout with the flu, Cohen easily won the short program Thursday night at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships with 65.15 points.
Considered just about a lock for her first national title once Michelle Kwan withdrew with a groin injury, Cohen has a big lead over second-place Emily Hughes and is well-positioned for Saturday’s free skate.
The one guaranteed spot on the U.S. team for next month’s Olympics is in her sights – and she has the potential for so much more.
“I was trying to prove myself, get a place on the team,” Cohen said, thinking back to 2002, when she wound up fourth at the Salt Lake City Games. “Now I think I’m trying to prove myself, get a title. So I’m in a very different place.
“I still am stubborn. But I think my focus a couple of years ago was only on getting first place. … I just wanted to win. And I was going to win and that was that. That just seemed the only object at a competition for me. I’ve learned now it’s about performance and a personal best.”
This was not a personal best, and Cohen knew it.
“This is definitely not half as good as I’ve been doing in practice,” she said. “My transitions, my spins, my speed were really suffering. I just kind of wanted to get from beginning to end.
“I just didn’t have the training and strength to really be 100 percent out there.”
That’s bad news for the rest of the field.
Cohen, 21, a two-time world silver medalist considered a serious contender for gold at Turin, two-footed her triple flip. Otherwise, she was far superior to the rest of the women. Skating to “Dark Eyes,” she was faster than usual, despite her protestations to the contrary. Cohen was smooth, with incredible extensions, especially on her spirals. She seemed to embrace the program emotionally during her footwork near the end of the 2-minute, 50-second routine.
“I’ve learned to let go of the worry, to leave that in training,” she said. “When I go out there to perform, to enjoy it as much as possible.”
Kwan, who plans to start jumping again today, has petitioned U.S. Figure Skating for a berth in Turin and is expected to get it if she proves she is healthy. A selection committee will choose the two spots that don’t go to the national champion.
Cohen missed Kwan on Thursday night.
“It feels a little empty out here,” she admitted. “Ever since I’ve heard of figure skating or been at a nationals, Michelle’s always been a big part of the event. So I definitely feel a little empty. It doesn’t even quite feel like a nationals. But I’ve had so many of my own things going on this week to occupy me.”
With Cohen and Kwan almost certainly headed for the Games, the competition for the third slot is tense.
Hughes, younger sister of 2002 Olympic champion Sarah, didn’t let a dropped earring deter her. She had a spunky performance in which she barely saved her triple lutz-double toe loop combination, then lit up with a huge smile she carried through the rest of the routine. She was 6.04 points behind first, but only .29 points over the evening’s surprise performer, third-place Bebe Liang.
“It flew out of my ear and everybody had to come out and find my back,” Hughes said of the costume problem. “That was a really good performance for me, and I’m really excited it happened today.”
Hughes, 16, isn’t nearly the accomplished skater her sister was at this age. She lacks the footwork and overall grace of Sarah, but she is a dynamic spinner and moves more swiftly than most of her peers.
“She called me, wished me luck,” Emily said of Sarah, who attends Yale and will be in St. Louis for the free skate Saturday. “She said she was going to watch.”
If Sarah Hughes watched, she also saw last year’s U.S. bronze medalist, Kimmie Meissner, mess up her combination jump, adding a step and a turn in her triple lutz-triple toe loop. The 16-year-old who last January became the first U.S. woman to land a triple axel in competition in 14 years, stood fourth.
Liang took advantage of mistakes by Meissner and Alissa Czisny to grab third place.