Healthy and Prepared, Cohen Sets Her Sights on State Farm U.S. Championships

[Sk8harvest]

Healthy and Prepared, Cohen Sets Her Sights on State Farm U.S. Championships

Here's a link to the USFSA article about Sasha:

http://www.usfsa.org/event_story.asp?id=32494

 

[Sk8harvest]

Interesting comments about her level of preparation:

"Cohen said she's left no stone unturned in preparing for the U.S. Championships and a possible spot on the U.S. Olympic Team. She's been reviewing her programs, reading rules and working with technical specialists to ensure her programs take full advantage of the new judging system. She's also made some changes to her free skate to “Romeo and Juliet.” Cohen flew to Canada this fall to work with choreographer David Wilson"

and

"Cohen told reporters that she has been doing a lot more on-ice training over the last couple of months. But instead of doing full run-throughs, she has been doing parts of her programs over and over in an effort to make every element shine. Cohen admitted she may not have put as much effort into her training in previous years.

“I feel like I've never been as prepared as I could or should have been,” she said, adding that the lack of preparation was one of her weaknesses. “[I didn't have] enough confidence and was afraid of making mistakes. I always tried to be perfect … now I'm not going to let the fear of not being perfect [hurt me].”

I would love to see Sasha come to Nats healthy and fit and perform two clean programs. Can she do it?

 

[dancindiva03]

I would love to see Sasha come to Nats healthy and fit and perform two clean programs. Can she do it?

In a word, no. I think there have been just too many articles hyping her in just the last week or two alone. IMHO that is the last thing she needs. I don't care how well prepared she is, I think she is going to fall, and fall hard.

 

[*~RussianBleux~*]

Is it true that Sasha has never skated a clean program in a major competition? We've seen her as a top skater for 6 years now(I've followed her progress off and on), and that is a long time to try unsuccessfully to skate a clean program....

 

[R.D.]

1/2/05

 

[R.D.]

Interesting comments about her level of preparation:

"Cohen said she's left no stone unturned in preparing for the U.S. Championships and a possible spot on the U.S. Olympic Team. She's been reviewing her programs, reading rules and working with technical specialists to ensure her programs take full advantage of the new judging system. She's also made some changes to her free skate to “Romeo and Juliet.” Cohen flew to Canada this fall to work with choreographer David Wilson"

and

"Cohen told reporters that she has been doing a lot more on-ice training over the last couple of months. But instead of doing full run-throughs, she has been doing parts of her programs over and over in an effort to make every element shine. Cohen admitted she may not have put as much effort into her training in previous years.

“I feel like I've never been as prepared as I could or should have been,” she said, adding that the lack of preparation was one of her weaknesses. “[I didn't have] enough confidence and was afraid of making mistakes. I always tried to be perfect … now I'm not going to let the fear of not being perfect [hurt me].”

I would love to see Sasha come to Nats healthy and fit and perform two clean programs. Can she do it?

I find this interesting, too. Kind of surprising given that she's given the opposite impression in the past (with the exception of last year). I like how straightforward she's been in interviews recently.

Now, what she may not see now is that making these statements might lead to her becoming the favorite at US Nats if Kwan proves to be less than spectacular. IMO, what she is telling us, in short, is to expect her to do BETTER this time around. I can't possibly see how media attention could be helpful to her, but if it's her fuel then more power to her.

That last question might be our $125,000 dollar question this season. (the $1 million question is of course, who will WIN THE OLYMPICS?)

 

[pollyls]

Is it true that Sasha has never skated a clean program in a major competition? We've seen her as a top skater for 6 years now(I've followed her progress off and on), and that is a long time to try unsuccessfully to skate a clean program....

She nailed her free skates in her Grand Prix events in 2003, during her time with Tatiana Tarasova. I was so excited about her performances in those Grand Prix events!

I also found it interesting to read her confession about not training enough. That was what Robin Wagner had to say about her when they parted ways.

 

[Sk8harvest]

Is it true that Sasha has never skated a clean program in a major competition? We've seen her as a top skater for 6 years now(I've followed her progress off and on), and that is a long time to try unsuccessfully to skate a clean program....

I believe she has previously skated one clean program in a major competition, but not recently. I don't recall that she has ever managed to pull off two clean programs in a competition. Certainly she seemed to be at her best preparation-wise during he 18 months or so working with TT.

That last question might be our $125,000 dollar question this season. (the $1 million question is of course, who will WIN THE OLYMPICS?)

Red Dog I agree!