Cohen actually had 3 world medals and never finished worse than 5th anywhere in her whole senior career. Out of 21 senior (international) competitions she was only off the podium 6 times (and again, never lower than 5th); if you only count from 2002 forward she was in 15 competitions and only landed off the podium once, at the world championships, where she was 4th.
While I lurrrrved Cohen (and still do) and was gutted for her for many years that she didn't reach her 'potential' as we are discussing, I've come to think differently about it. I think, given her shortcomings, that she actually exceeded her potential in some ways. While some think she wasn't mentally tough (and there may be some truth in that) I think it is more so true that she was a good, but not a great, jumper at a time when a fall on a jump hurt you a lot more than it does now. I actually think if she had competed under COP she'd have often placed higher than she did under 6.0 (and as I already discussed, she always placed very high, potential aside). While her potential in a fantasy world where she was a very strong jumper was doubtless #1 in the world at everything, her potential in the real world where we live I think is reflected accurately in her results, and she probably more or less did the best she could with what she had (if she could have improved her jumps in some way is a different question and outside the scope of what I am currently saying).
This is how I've always felt about Sasha. If we classify her as a headcase, she's probably the headcase with the best record in the history of American skating. People always pointed out, however, that she was great from the ankles up. She didn't have the best edging and stroking (especially compared to Michelle), and that undermined her jumps as well as her general skating. In most other aspects, she was superb, and her record (and her CoP scores when that system came in) reflected that. She remains one of my favorite skaters. I feel no pangs of regret when I contemplate her career, except maybe that she didn't feel she wanted to continue past 2006.