Sasha's comeback attempt. | Golden Skate

Sasha's comeback attempt.

krenseby

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 8, 2006
This may seem obvious and not be even worth saying, but I feel saddened by Sasha's failed comeback attempt.

I think this is definitely an opportunity missed: while her training certainly helped her regain her form to a certain extent, her preparation level was below what was needed to mount a serious challenge. Basically, I think she has miscalculated the amount of time it would take to really become competitive at the national level. That's very sad because it is obvious she put in serious effort that has gotten her far. All that effort was wasted by poor planning. She needed to start the serious training about eight months earlier than she did. Ironically, this is what has always frustrated me about Sasha: she seemed like a hard worker, and yet her preparation efforts were not optimized to ensure success.
 

Tinymavy15

Sinnerman for the win
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 28, 2006
She supposedly started training with Rapheal in fall of 2008. She should have stopped doing SOI after that and devoted herself to training full-time. If she had, and also not gotten injured and avoided the boot problems (or dealt with them sooner) she would have skated well. It was not so much that she did not start training soon enough, but that she did not plan on being so injured. If she had not been injured she would have skated in the GP and known that her footwork was level 1, etc.
 

krenseby

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 8, 2006
She supposedly started training with Rapheal in fall of 2008. She should have stopped doing SOI after that and devoted herself to training full-time. If she had, and also not gotten injured and avoided the boot problems (or dealt with them sooner) she would have skated well. It was not so much that she did not start training soon enough, but that she did not plan on being so injured. If she had not been injured she would have skated in the GP and known that her footwork was level 1, etc.

Yes, that's what I meant.. she should have started "serious/full-time" training earlier. I guess no one advised her to be aware of the strain the body would have to face when switching into intense athletic mode after so many years away. And of course, her LP could have been much more difficult, earning her a lot more points despite any jump problems.
 

PROKOFIEV

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 1, 2009
FAILED COME BACK ATTEMPT??? I am very sorry but it sounds reall mean and harsh. I do not think it was failed at all. She showed us beaudiful short program and I am very sure because of her, the viewing rate went up. She definitely helped to get more people interested and excited about figure skating in the Olympic year. Whether you like her or not, she is a global icon of figure skating. And America should be really proud of producing such a special skater and respect her for coming back.
 

janetfan

Match Penalty
Joined
May 15, 2009
I think it is up to Sasha to evaluate whether she "failed" or not.

After her LP she seemed surprisingly calm and did not look like she thought of herself as a failure. I suspect she did the best she could with the injury situation.

I was happy with her SP and it was great seeing her skate again.

Last night as I began watching the LP's it hit me that Sasha was probably not going to be able to come close to a clean skate. Just a feeling - maybe based on her previosu history and certainly due to her lack of training time.

Who knows what Sasha is thinking today. She said it was about "the journey" and that she wanted the feeling back that comes with competing.

From that point Sasha may be thinking that just getting out on the ice again makes her a winner - and not a failure.
 

MK's Winter

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 9, 2009
I don't think her comeback was failed at all. She skated a great short and went after everything in the LP. She didn't give up and she attempted everything. To me that spoke volumes. And 4th place after 4 years off from competitive skating, not to shabby.:rock:
 

PROKOFIEV

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 1, 2009
I don't think her comeback was failed at all. She skated a great short and went after everything in the LP. She didn't give up and she attempted everything. To me that spoke volumes. And 4th place after 4 years off from competitive skating, not to shabby.:rock:

:clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::rock::rock::rock::rock::rock::rock:
Thank you!!
 

MKFSfan

Medalist
Joined
Mar 15, 2006
I agree, I don't think it was necessarily a "failed" attempt, but as janetfan said, that is for Sasha to decide. I think she knew heading into Nationals what she was capable of. But on the other hand, so many were saying as long as she stood up, it was her Nationals to lose, and I believe she skated her LP with that in mind. Had she started out strong and faltered, I could believe it was all about lack of training and stamina, but she faltered out the gate, she seemed so slow and tentative compared to the SP, and never really got going. Well, she gave it a shot, and she knows what went wrong with the comeback. She got a lot of attention and loving during the whole Nationals and she clearly enjoyed it. So, I hope that is a bit of a consolation prize.
 

krenseby

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 8, 2006
FAILED COME BACK ATTEMPT??? I am very sorry but it sounds reall mean and harsh. I do not think it was failed at all.

I am not being mean, I am simply evaluating her goal and whether she has achieved it or not:

Goal: To make the Olympic team.

Has she succeed or failed to make the Olympic team? Failed.

Now, whether she skated well and or/enjoyed the experience is a different question, but she was out to make the Olympic team!
 

R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Well, if the comeback attempt was to make the Oly team (which Cohen has said many times) and she didn't, that could technically be considered a failure. But really, only she knows whether it is one or not. But it definitely was not a raging success, we can say that much.

She seemed to "wise up" in the month before Nationals, probably when she realized she probably most likely was going to fall short. It struck me how loose and carefree she seemed to be in the freeskate. Usually she has a deer-in-the-headlights look. I was actually wondering if that was a display of confidence in herself and she was looking to wow us. Retrospectively, looks like she knew she was done and just wanted to enjoy the performance, even if she wasn't able to hit the jumps.

I don't think her comeback was failed at all. She skated a great short and went after everything in the LP. She didn't give up and she attempted everything. To me that spoke volumes. And 4th place after 4 years off from competitive skating, not to shabby.:rock:

I agree that she tried to make the most of the moment. My thinking is more of this line than "she blew it, she failed"- just because she had the courage to go for it. That's as much as you can do and for once she came across as warm and friendly to reporters, the audience and her competitors.
 
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PROKOFIEV

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 1, 2009
I am not being mean, I am simply evaluating her goal and whether she has achieved it or not:

Goal: To make the Olympic team.

Has she succeed or failed to make the Olympic team? Failed.

Now, whether she skated well and or/enjoyed the experience is a different question, but she was out to make the Olympic team!

OK! OK!:laugh::laugh: I know you are not mean!!:)
 

millie

Medalist
Joined
Nov 1, 2004
"The only real failure in life is the failure to try". Sasha tried and she did not fail. I remember at the last Olympics that the media and the non-fans kept saying that Sasha failed to win gold, not that she had won silver.
 

janetfan

Match Penalty
Joined
May 15, 2009
I am not being mean, I am simply evaluating her goal and whether she has achieved it or not:

Goal: To make the Olympic team.

Has she succeed or failed to make the Olympic team? Failed.

Now, whether she skated well and or/enjoyed the experience is a different question, but she was out to make the Olympic team!

She said she hoped to make the Olympic team but it would not be the end of the world if she didn't make it.

She said it was about the journey and about getting the feeling back,
That is what she said and there is no need to make up your own version.

Sasha will most likely give an interview soon and will probably talk more about it.

I think she proved people like you wrong and more than a few have given her some credit for attempting this comeback. I can no more declare it a success or failure than you can.




.
 
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krenseby

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 8, 2006
It struck me how loose and carefree she seemed to be in the freeskate. Usually she has a deer-in-the-headlights look. I was actually wondering if that was a display of confidence in herself and she was looking to wow us. Retrospectively, looks like she knew she was done and just wanted to enjoy the performance, even if she wasn't able to hit the jumps.

What also struck me was how calm and at peace with herself she seemed when it was clear her competitors outscored her. No emotion, no surprise. Perhaps, she knew exactly where she would place, after all.
 

R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
What also struck me was how calm and at peace with herself she seemed when it was clear her competitors outscored her. No emotion, no surprise. Perhaps, she knew exactly where she would place, after all.


The bigger surprise to me is that she didn't look disappointed after her freeskate. She looked completely gutted after a similar outing at 2006 Worlds. Seems like the time away really gave her some perspective.
 

MKFSfan

Medalist
Joined
Mar 15, 2006
"The only real failure in life is the failure to try". Sasha tried and she did not fail. I remember at the last Olympics that the media and the non-fans kept saying that Sasha failed to win gold, not that she had won silver.

What? I remember quite differently. According to the press...Michelle "failed" to win Gold in 1998 despite a clean, 7 triple program. Many sports folks will mention that "failure" on any greatest chokes of all time lists. Sasha's 4 triple program in 2006 was deemed heroic, because ya know, after faltering two times in the 1st 30 seconds of her program, she kept on skating, and skated off with the silver medal.
 

Tinymavy15

Sinnerman for the win
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 28, 2006
Here is how Sasha put it in her journal on Jan 14th.

While it would be amazing to win and make my third Olympic team, my main goal is to just do the best that I am able to do. I know if I do the best that I can do, I will leave Spokane with no regrets — that's what I really want more than anything.

I think she knew then that making the team would be a stretch and she was being realistic about her ability to skate her LP. She went to Nationals anyway so she would have no regrets.
 

Raatkirani

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 22, 2006
I don't understand why people are so harsh on Sasha Cohen trying to make a comeback. She's only 25, for goodness sake, and there are older skaters than her on the international circuit (Julia Sebestyn comes to mind). This would be a perfect time for one last hurrah. I truly think she did this for the personal challenge, to see if she could bring herself up to that level of training and physicality. It's like when an older person decides to go back to college, to get the masters degree they know they can get with hard work and dedication. When Katarina Witt came back in 1994, we knew she wouldn't medal, but I was thrilled to watch her again and I adored her poignant LP. Elaine Zayak made a comeback that year too, and you couldn't help but feel happy for her.

Yes, Sasha fell short of the ultimate dream of making the Olympics, but heck, she didn't do so badly. She is the 4th best female skater in America, not shabby at all. And just looking at her physique, you can tell she trained her butt off, to the best of her capabilities. She was as thin as her 17 year old self. I remember there was a big controversy last year as to whether she had gotten plastic surgery (i.e. breast augmentation) because she had filled out quite a bit, but this weekend, she inadvertently proved it was just normal weight gain and a resultant womanly physique. She totally lost the excess fat and was lean as her competitive self. I'm sure there is not a single woman out there who can't admire the dedication it took to change her body just to be ready for the challenge.

Just for trying, all I can say is Brava, Sasha!
 

soogar

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 18, 2003
I too am really sad about her comeback. I wish she didn't try at all because that LP was so bad that it taints my memories of her skating. I hate to see her "pushed aside" and forgotten after the other ladies outperformed her.

My feeling is that Sasha's comeback failed due to procrastination and fear of failure. She was given a prime opportunity to come back- 2 Grand Prix events. While I don't doubt she was injured, I do believe that she was afraid of returning to competition with anything less than her former self. With her back against the wall she did go to nationals but she could have gutted out those injuries and put herself out there in the Grand Prix to get the jitters out. I think that while that initial event would have been disconcerting if she had finished last; in the long run it would have been the best for her comeback.

Compare and contrast her comeback with Plushenko- a guy who knows how to compete and knows himself. He gave himself time to get his jumps ready and has progressed steadily throughout the season and made himself perform those jumps. Sasha didn't even run through her jumps all out at nationals practice- would have been ideal to get into the habit of fighting to land her jumps instead of doing it "cold" at nationals.

It is all just my opinion but I felt she could have handled her comeback better and was very sad to see her go the way she had.
 
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