Article on Sasha Cohen | Golden Skate

Article on Sasha Cohen

Joined
Jul 11, 2003
I can't help but agree with Peggy Flemming that Sasha has it all. It comes down to when the gold Worlds comes her way. In my opinion, it has to be soon.

Joe
 

Panther2000

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
I agree also. She does have the talent tobe a champion. I still can't feel her when she skates. I don't feel her programs. They still seem to me to be : HERE LOOK SEE WHAT I CAN DO. She has very good programs. I Just can't feel her soul while skating. But, she has improved so much after she joined TT. her attitude has gotten so much better. But, I can see her being champion. If & When she gets over the mistakes that she seems to always make. But, the longer it takes for her I think the Harder it will be for her to reach that Goal. I read somwhere that she is talking about that Quad again. Frankly, I think that she should just forget that & working on Skating Mistake Free Programs Back to Back to Back to back, Competition after competition after competition.
 

Bynx

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 29, 2003
It's a fine article,
but what does Kwan
being 23 have anything to do with anything.

It'll be interesting to see if Cohen
can have a clean solid performance this season.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Great article. Some of the highlights for me are:

"With Michelle Kwan now 23 and with Sarah Hughes a freshman at Yale and at best a part-time skater, Cohen, a month short of her 19th birthday, may become No. 1 in the world, maybe even the best female skater ever."

" 'A beautiful body, beautiful smile, angelic face - she has the most beautiful lines I've seen in skating next to John Curry,' (Peggy) Fleming said in a telephone interview."

" 'She has brilliant technique. She has a marvelous, limber quality. She's a brilliant technician, marvelously athletic.' -- Dick Button

" 'I think my style is unique because I'm a musical person,' (Sasha) said. "When the music goes on, I feel it inside. It tells me what to do. I think with a lot of skaters, their program is choreographed and chiseled.' "

"When she was asked if Cohen reminded her of the young Peggy, Fleming had a quick answer.

" 'In my dreams,' she said.

Mathman
 

euterpe

Medalist
Joined
Sep 4, 2003
I agree that Sasha needs to focus on skating clean, not on complicated 3/3s and quads. Skating clean should be her goal, not being World Champion. When she can do the former consistently, the latter will follow.
 

Bynx

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 29, 2003
Panther2000 said:
I agree also. She does have the talent tobe a champion. I still can't feel her when she skates. I don't feel her programs. They still seem to me to be : HERE LOOK SEE WHAT I CAN DO. She has very good programs. I Just can't feel her soul while skating. But, she has improved so much after she joined TT. her attitude has gotten so much better. But, I can see her being champion. If & When she gets over the mistakes that she seems to always make. But, the longer it takes for her I think the Harder it will be for her to reach that Goal. I read somwhere that she is talking about that Quad again. Frankly, I think that she should just forget that & working on Skating Mistake Free Programs Back to Back to Back to back, Competition after competition after competition.


ITA.
 

gracefulswan

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 16, 2003
what does kwan being 23 have anything to do with it...?? i can see if she were off like sarah...devoted to full-time pursuits elsewhere...but if last season is any indication, she's just getting started...getting her second wind. so, i hope cohen will be focusing on skating mistake free programs first and foremost b/c she will have to start doing that in order to start winning anything. but, all i hear is her trying quads and not doing full run throughs...among other things. she's a great skater....but, IMO, she could have already started making a bigger impact.
 

Sidejehoka

Rinkside
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Thanks for this article. It was fun to read this, especially her own remarks. I really like her as a person - so much self-confidence. Interesting comment about her musicality, though. As much as I love her style, I've never seen it that way.
I hope so much this season will finally be the break for her.

But to be honest: I also hope she doesn't get much articles like that to read. It kind of annoys me, how Fleming and Button act as if Sasha had every single major title including Torino already in her bag - as if there wasn't anybody else out there and she had to compete only with herself. I'm by far not that convinced that everything will come to her with this naturalness.
Don't get me wrong: I'm a Sasha-Fanatic. TT herself couldn't wish more than I do that this girl becomes a legend in figure skating and wins everything in sight during the 2003/2004 season. And most of what Fleming and Button say in this article about Sasha is right - I only can't stand the way they say it.
She's determined to be the star - I wonder if it ever occured to anybody what pressure this must be on one hand and on the other: that being told all the time that she's definitely the most gifted ever could make her carefree and too self-assured. I wonder what TT tells Sasha in person.
 

tharrtell

TriGirl Rinkside
On the Ice
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
"...may become No. 1 in the world, maybe even the best female skater ever."

Hype. I find this type of talk annoying. The proof is in the pudding. No doubt, Sasha is a very gifted skater, but I simply don't understand anointing her the 'best ever' before she's delivered. Even if she wins every competition she enters this year, she's got a LONG way to go before she can come close to being called the best female skater ever.
 

gracefulswan

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 16, 2003
i was thinking likewise...so much pressure using such words...wait until she delivers the goods regularly...THEN start with the 'your the greatest' theme...jeez, i hope they are realizing what they are doing.. i don't hear anybody saying the same about AP. so, i believe that does give her an advantage...she's lurking with no hype and pressure to burst out this season... watch out! i've heard how determined she and her coaches are for her this year...
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Hi Sidejehoka, I see by your signature that you are posting from Tashkent. Are you going to tell us something in the Cafe about your adventures in Uzbekistan?

Hi Gracefulswan, and welcome to the forum! ITA agree about AP being the one to watch. I also have great hopes for a breakout season for Jenny Kirk.

Mathman
 

euterpe

Medalist
Joined
Sep 4, 2003
I think hyperbole such as those comments from Button and Fleming only creates a heavier burden for Sasha. Think back to the month before Nationals, by which time Sasha had won two gold and one Silver GP medal, and gold medals at two cheesefests besides. Sasha was called "unbeatable" and per-anointed as the next US and World champion.

What happened? Meltdown at Nationals, and after winning the GPF, at Worlds as well.

Sasha is indeed very, very talented, but she seems to be at the mercy of her own personal demons.
 

Verbalgirl77

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Cohen would nod and skate off and do pieces of her long program (but no jumps). Coach and skater seemed satisfied with their progress.

I really hope this isn't still her regular routine. A skater like Sasha who has these mental lapses (like Nancy/Tonya/Maria/Nicole used to have) should really be doing full run-throughs. Even double full-runthroughs.

Fumie and Vika passing her (based on consistency) is what she really needs to be worrying about at this point. Not being the best ever, when she still has yet to win a World medal, IMHO.

I am quite excited to see her at SA and see how she holds up against Vika, Arakawa, and even Kirk (they skate clean). If she does Swan Lake 'right' it should be amazing.
 

registered

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 17, 2003
Not doing full run-throughs of the program bothers me, as well. This is crucial for getting consistency under control, since human body responds similarly to a fatigue, and mental stress.

Not going through the full routine regularly, is what causes Sasha "loss of focus," not what's written in this or that article. I doubt that any skater goes out in the competition thinking: "OK, so and so wrote, that I may become the best skater ever. I should not let him/her down."

IMO those kind of pieces are written for the fans, they're quite irrelevant in the influencing of the skater's future successes and failures.
 

RealtorGal

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
She said that two weeks ago she did her full program and for the first time afterwards she was able to breathe.

Now THAT tells you that something is definitely wrong with this picture. She needs more strength and more conditioning. She should be running her program (with jumps) every day, perhaps, as someone has already stated, even twice.
 

Lanie

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Yeah. Sasha should be doing double run-throughs, I agree.

But it's a nice article. While she has inconsistency and the not-perfect edges, I still love to watch her. :)
 

Fossi

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 23, 2003
I can tell the season is about to begin when the Sasha hype starts in full force!
This is exactly why I admire Sarah, and to some extent even Michelle Kwan at times. Neither gushed so much about themselves, and what they PLANNED to do. They just went about their business and skated their hearts out.
All I get from this is more hype. Didn't her PR learn anything?
 

registered

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 17, 2003
Fossi said:
I can tell the season is about to begin when the Sasha hype starts in full force!
This is exactly why I admire Sarah, and to some extent even Michelle Kwan at times. Neither gushed so much about themselves, and what they PLANNED to do. They just went about their business and skated their hearts out.
All I get from this is more hype. Didn't her PR learn anything?

I didn't know that Dick and Peggy are part of Sasha's PR team.:p
 

Fossi

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 23, 2003
registered said:
I didn't know that Dick and Peggy are part of Sasha's PR team.:p

I'm sure her PR team has a bit to do with the article. She was interviewed and observed during practice, was she not?
 
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