Any Sasha updates?

[Dee4707]

Oh well, it will still be my first big international competition - and I'll see Shen and Zhao. arty:

Spun, I had the pleasure of seeing Shen & Zhao at Skate Canada a few years ago. They were skating their Nutcracker program when Shen stumbled and the crowd was so intent on watching the program ...... a very loud ahhhhhhhhh was heard on the stumble. Their programs can be so magical!!!

I also had the pleasure of seeing Sasha at Skate Canada. She is truly amazing to watch.

 

[☆Genie]

Spun, I had the pleasure of seeing Shen & Zhao at Skate Canada a few years ago. They were skating their Nutcracker program when Shen stumbled and the crowd was so intent on watching the program ...... a very loud ahhhhhhhhh was heard on the stumble. Their programs can be so magical!!!

I also had the pleasure of seeing Sasha at Skate Canada. She is truly amazing to watch.

Sasha is a great skater, but I hope she takes care of this injury. The chances of making the olympic team is slim.

 

[Spun Silver]

Sasha is a great skater, but I hope she takes care of this injury. The chances of making the olympic team is slim.

Can't argue with any of that... but since she's magical I will hope she can pull a rabbit out of her skates in January.

 

[chuckm]

True. If Em can get back to her former self I think she can definitely get one of those Oly spots. It's not like any of the other Americans are doing much better anyways...

163.97 55.16 108.81 Ashley Wagner, CoR
159.30 57.64 101.66 Alissa Czisny, CoR
157.71 58.80 98.91 Rachael Flatt, CoC
157.71 58.80 98.91 Mirai Nagasu, CoC
155.99 56.54 99.45 Ashley Wagne, NHK
153.15 57.26 95.89 Caroline Zhang, TEB
151.92 58.22 93.70 Alexe Gilles, TEB
139.31 52.12 87.19 Emily Hughes, NA Regionals
131.39 50.76 80.63 Beatrisa Liang, CoC
118.42 36.26 82.16 Becky Bereswill, NHK

Ya think?

Emily landed 3 triples in her FS at NA Regionals. Problem is they were 3S and 3T, pretty much the same jumps she had last year at TEB, where she finished next-to-last.

Somehow, I don't think ISU judges would give her close to 140 for the skates she had at NA Regionals. I suspect BeBe would be ahead of her.....

 

[Wicked]

I will believe Sasha is coming back when I actually see her on the ice. Right now, she's like the Boy who Cried Wolf.

 

[chuckm]

Sasha might have had some credibility had she returned in the 2008-2009 season. But she didn't, and she didn't start training until June because of tendonitis (there was a clue right there!). Only a severely delusional or publicity-hungry (or both) skater would attempt a return to the Olympics after a 3-year layoff, allowing only 6-7 months to get back in shape.

Yes, Plushenko has successfully returned, but he started training seriously more than a year ago.

 

[R.D.]

163.97 55.16 108.81 Ashley Wagner, CoR
159.30 57.64 101.66 Alissa Czisny, CoR
157.71 58.80 98.91 Rachael Flatt, CoC
157.71 58.80 98.91 Mirai Nagasu, CoC
155.99 56.54 99.45 Ashley Wagne, NHK
153.15 57.26 95.89 Caroline Zhang, TEB
151.92 58.22 93.70 Alexe Gilles, TEB
139.31 52.12 87.19 Emily Hughes, NA Regionals
131.39 50.76 80.63 Beatrisa Liang, CoC
118.42 36.26 82.16 Becky Bereswill, NHK

Ya think?

Emily landed 3 triples in her FS at NA Regionals. Problem is they were 3S and 3T, pretty much the same jumps she had last year at TEB, where she finished next-to-last.

Somehow, I don't think ISU judges would give her close to 140 for the skates she had at NA Regionals. I suspect BeBe would be ahead of her.....

Let's now see how she does at SA first.

 

[lcd]

So much of the marketing hype centered on her returning. Short-cited of the promoters to not present a more robust story. There are other skaters to look forward to but first they will have to overcome people's letdown. A shame.

I genuinely hope Sasha is healthy enough to compete at Nationals.

 

[demarinis5]

I am glad Emily is Sasha 's replacement. Not sure how she will do
but she might surprise us. Ya never know.

Wishing Sasha a speedy recovery.

 

[lcd]

Emily has a history of "stepping in as the replacement" and making the most of it. (Torino Olympics for Michelle). She's a great gamer in that way and I'm sure her sheer joy and appreciation for the opportunity will be more heartwarming to see than a Sasha hobbling out during a warm up, skidding over to the referee, then having an announcer speak the horrible news of a withdrawal.

Glad Sasha pulled on time, even if it is last minute, so that USA could have a replacement. Hope Sasha is healing up in time to do battle in Spokane.

 

[prettykeys]

 

[Spun Silver]

Sasha might have had some credibility had she returned in the 2008-2009 season. But she didn't, and she didn't start training until June because of tendonitis (there was a clue right there!). Only a severely delusional or publicity-hungry (or both) skater would attempt a return to the Olympics after a 3-year layoff, allowing only 6-7 months to get back in shape.

Yes, Plushenko has successfully returned, but he started training seriously more than a year ago.

Whoa. There's no need for character assassination. Sasha announced her return in early May, stating that she had been working with Arutunian for six months, ie since November 2008.
http://www.sashacohen.com/2010olympics.shtml
Here she speaks of having trained with him in summer 2008 and Callaghan is on record saying she was training seriously in March 2009.
http://web.icenetwork.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090507&content_id=64564&vkey=ice_news
This article places summer 2008 as the point where she began to train hard.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/24/sports/othersports/24skating.html

So first of all, she started preparing more than 6-7 months ago. These articles are not perfectly consistent but none of them has her shooting for an instant comeback in April 2009. Second of all, "delusional"? Does that apply to all the people quoted in these articles who took her comeback seriously, too? Third of all, would you kindly lay your bile about Sasha to rest? It gets old (not that it was so impressive the first 500 times). :sheesh:

 

[Nadine]

Just read about this over on IN, and well I'm very happy for Emily, I'm sad only for Sasha in the context that it's just another reason for people to jump on her.

That said, she made a smart decision, but I wish she would have just taken the whole entire GP season off from the very beginning (which I suggested after she w/d from TEB due to tendonitis), as she already earned her bye to Nationals by winning the Olympic Silver Medal in 2006, she didn't have to do the GP, especially when injured. This will be a good time for her to rest her tendonitis & work toward Nationals.

After NHK, I was already planning on not watching Skate America, nor any more skating, as I completely lost my joy in it. So it doesn't matter to me whether Sasha was there or not, nor anybody else, though I do feel sorry for her fans that wanted to see her. But, hey, Emily is a joy to watch as well. She's similar to Alena Leonova as far as expressing pure joy of skating, seriously!

 

[chuckm]

I just don't enjoy watching Emily skate when she tries to power her jumps around and winds up having wonky landings, or more often, completing the rotation on the ice and getting dinged for UR.

She just looks so clunky! I'm glad at least she's enjoying skating for the public.

 

[R.D.]

Chuckm's got a point about Cohen though. Last season people would have taken her more seriously. Looks like her plan to wait until this season is in the early stages of backfiring. But she would have been lackluster at best, anyway, if her injury is really that bad.

 

[PolymerBob]

She started training 6 month ago? a year ago? It seems like she never stopped training. She was skating in shows wasn't she? She wasn't sitting on her couch with a beer in one hand and a bag of potato chips in the other. She was working out on the ice and in the gym. She must have been to keep skating in all those shows.

 

[kandidy]

I knew this would happen, can't help even I am her big fan but was disapponited...

 

[Olympia]

Oh, rats!

Not that I'm surprised, but I'm certainly disappointed that Sasha isn't skating. There's nobody like her right now, certainly not in the U.S. At least Emily Hughes is accustomed to being the last-minute fill-in for an injured skater, and she'll try her absolute best.

Those of you who are getting to go to SA won't be totally deprived, though. Imagine getting to see Shen and Zhao live! You lucky ducks. And as if that weren't enough, YuNa as well. Pretty good for the price of a skating ticket.

Spun Silver, I got a chuckle out of your witty way of putting it, but I sure do hope Sasha can pull a rabbit out of her skates this winter--twice! Once at Nationals, and once at Vancouver.

 

[chuckm]

She started training 6 month ago? a year ago? It seems like she never stopped training. She was skating in shows wasn't she? She wasn't sitting on her couch with a beer in one hand and a bag of potato chips in the other. She was working out on the ice and in the gym. She must have been to keep skating in all those shows.

Based on her SOI performances, there isn't much to indicate that Sasha was training hard. She was having trouble landing 3S and 3T off and on during the SOI season. According to Sasha, she had tendonitis all during the SOI tour and that would have limited her ability to practice the harder jumps. Anyway, when a skater is on tour and traveling constantly, there is hardly any time at all to train because of having to do runthrough practices and the show itself. Her one exhibition event in September where she tried 3F and 3Z, she was unable to land either jump cleanly.


Sasha did not begin serious training---that is, nothing but rigorous practices and off-ice training day in and day out----until June 2009. It's unreasonable to expect to be able to regain facility with jumps unused for more than three years in less than 7 months.

 

[James R]

After NHK, I was already planning on not watching Skate America, nor any more skating, as I completely lost my joy in it.

Interesting. I feel similarly this season, I'm losing interest. In my case, I'm tired of endlessly repetitive CoP programs and CoP judging failure. Same with you?