Sasha. Comeback. Believe it.

Sasha has a coach, R. Arutunian, and is training in Lake Arrowhead. This has been widely publicized. Even prior to her "comeback" announcement, she was spotted training a full complement of triples in her SOI practices. FWIW, I just spoke to one of her former coaches, who remains in close contact, and he said she is enthusiastic and doing well.

I'm not saying Sasha's return is certain to be a success, but I don't think it's a tease or a mystery, either.

Maybe she's discovered the benefits of flying under the radar. That would be a good thing, IMO.

I'm still confused her rationale in skating even one GP which she was entitled to do at the invitation of the USFS. All she has to do is skate the Nats and place 2nd, if not 1st to qualify for the Olys.

However, if she is using the GPs (which are judged internationally) as a test and then WD from the Nats, I think that would end on a sour note. She could test the waters more quietly at the Merano Cup, or Finlandia. then go on to Nationals.

Kwan's strategy, if she returns to Nats, will just be Pacific Coast Sectionals and make her decision. Not that, that gig in korea won't tell her something.

Sasha, imo, has taken the more difficult route, and one has to marvel at her if all goes well. Let's hope so.

nylynnr said:

...who remains in close contact, and he said [that Cohen] is enthusiastic and doing well.

Click to expand...

This would contrast with a report I read on SF a couple weeks ago saying that she was struggling in practices due to her (still) injured foot, and then took some additional time off. Of course, we can probably take all these "reports" with a grain of salt.

Maybe she's discovered the benefits of flying under the radar. That would be a good thing, IMO.

Click to expand...

You saw how much press her come-back announcement got. Probably more articles were published on that than US Nationals and Worlds put together.

If she ends up competing in the GP circuit, she will inevitably attract attention, which is what she wants anyway.

janetfan said:

There is not much info from Yuna's camp and Michelle is not letting people know much either. Why can't Sasha follow their lead?

Click to expand...

Michelle is not coming back. There's absolutely no hint she's seriously considering a come-back. She can't even land a 2A cleanly in practice these days. You can take this to the bank.

We know what Yu-Na has been doing. We know she's training and has nailed down the programs although her camp doesn't want to disclose it.

As to Sash, there's absolutely nothing, weirdly quiet. My guts tell me she's not training full time for the time being.

redshirt said:

Michelle is not coming back. There's absolutely no hint she's seriously considering a come-back. She can't even land a 2A cleanly in practice these days. You can take this to the bank.

We know what Yu-Na has been doing. We know she's training and has nailed down the programs although her camp doesn't want to disclose it.

As to Sash, there's absolutely nothing, weirdly quiet. My guts tell me she's not training full time for the time being.

Click to expand...

I am glad to believe you but wonder what your sources are. In fact the only thing we have heard from Michelle is that "I got my triples back." And this was a while ago. Of course she could be bluffing.

Redshirt - Do you have reliable sources for this info on Sasha and Michelle, or is it just your gut feelings? Are you on the West Coast and have seen these practices?

redshirt said:

Is Sasha really returning? Are we sure?

We've heard absolutely nothing as to her music choice, training, and choreography etc since her announced return almost two months ago. Is she still on vacation?

Click to expand...

Well, right now she is planning on returning. She is working with Raphael Artunian in Lake Arrowhead. She says she started training with him about a year ago and has landed 3/3s. No music choices yet, i don't think she will say anything until she debuts. Moonlight Sonata is a pretty safe bet for one the programs...she skated to it in a few shows earlier in the year and it looks like a competition program.

redshirt said:

Michelle is not coming back. There's absolutely no hint she's seriously considering a come-back. She can't even land a 2A cleanly in practice these days. You can take this to the bank.

Click to expand...

Have you seen her? How do you know? she claims she has landed triples...

About Michelle, at least we can see whether or not she tries any jumps at the thing in Korea.

By the way, Michelle will be 29 on Tuesday.:birthday: I remember when Kristi Yamaguchi was winding up her pro career she was regarded as a geriatric marvel because she could still do a triple Lutz at age 28.

Tinymavy15 said:

Have you seen her? How do you know? she claims she has landed triples...

Click to expand...

I have no idea what Kwan's intentions are, or what her current skill level is. Or Cohen's, for that matter.

This post is intended more generally.

However, a retired skater working to recover lost jumps or even to learn new ones is not an indication that the skater is necessarily planning a comeback to competition. Working on and sometimes landing various triples in practice may be a far cry from having enough current jumping skill to achieve results comparable to what the skater was capable of at the peak of his/her competitive career. There's a big difference between landing all the triples in isolation in practice and landing 7 or 8 triples, including combinations, in a 4- or 4.5-minute program also filled with difficult footwork and spins.

For example, in the mid-1990s, during the period when reinstatement was an option for skaters who had lost their eligibility and the overlapping period during which opportunities for pro skaters were at an all-time high, we saw quite a few professional skaters reintroduce jumps they had performed as amateurs to their repertoires that they hadn't performed publicly for a decade or more. Some even added new jumps.

Some skaters did return to competition briefly. We all know about the handful of reinstated stars (among the singles skaters Viktor Petrenko, having taken only one year off, was the most successful but couldn't manage another Olympic medal). Some other returning skaters had no delusions of glory but just wanted to get back into the swing of things competitively for their own satisfaction. But in other cases, the skaters may have had no interest in returning to eligible competition but wanted to regain the tough jumps for personal pride, and if possible to show off in shows or pro competitions where they could afford to leave out some of the medium-difficulty triples or to take lots of rest breaks with posing or two-foot skating in between the jumps.

For example, I once witnessed a 30-something coach who also had a non-superstar pro skating career taking an informal lesson from a more well known jump coach. The skater was attempting not only all the jumps s/he had performed as an amateur, but also a new, more difficult jump. But the successful triples were all performed in isolation, not in the context of a program and not, IIRC, in combination. The new jump was not performed successfully. And the pro programs I saw from this skater included only the easiest triples, also often unsuccessful.

So it would have been true to say that this skater was working on all the triples. But it would not have been true to say that this skater was at that time able to keep up jumpwise with even lower-ranked senior competitors at that time.

I'm pretty sure Sasha did not get a 6.0 at Nationals for that lackluster performance of Nutcracker, but rather, a year earlier for a fall and badly two footed jump in Swan Lake. Now, THAT 6.0 was suspect.

A better example of Sasha faltering under non-pressure would be Worlds 2005-she did not have a melt down by any means, but had a few shaky landings and everyone knew Irina had that Championship in her pocket.

Here is a link to a video interview with Sasha talking about yoga with her demonstrating a few positions and explaining why yoga helps her. She also mentions other activities she does for fitness such as biking and ballet.

http://www.yardbarker.com/olympics/articles/Sasha_Cohen_Is_Making_An_Olympic_Comeback/621834

There are several other links about Sasha there but mostly they are stories from back in May when she announced she would be back in training for the Vancouver Olympic games.