Kyla--thanks for bringing the SI article to our attention. Brava!
NYMKFAN--thanks for providing the link. I would have been very cranky if I'd had to wait another hour for the newstand to open.
As so many other posters have said, best article on Sasha they've read. I think it is so especially in terms of insight, accuracy, and lack of bias. Even though the article is "pro Sasha"--I mean, part of the title is "Her Time Has Come"--it isn't written in a "Cohen can do no wrong" way. Along with positive comments about the changes in her training methods, writer EM Swift is also frank about Sasha's controversial decisions and inability to win a National or World title. Yet Swift also puts this in perspective both in the first two paragraphs of the article and in quotes by Sasha she uses later on--basically that success, assuming it comes, comes in many ways and, as has become almost a mantra for Cohen over the past year or so, "Everybody's different."
I also agree with Red Dog that it's one of the best--well, better
--articles on an elite athlete I've read. I do, however, find one fault with Swift's analysis of Sasha's change in height and weight. Swift notes that in 2000, at 15, Sasha was 4'9", 79 lb. and describes her as a "waif." Swift then notes Sasha's off-ice training and how much weight she can lift or press, etc. and says Cohen is now 5'2", 95 lb. Swift compares Sasha's body today to that of a gymnast.
The thing is, what is considered normal weight gain for every inch gained in height is 5 lb. From 2000 until now, Sasha grew five inches (please, someone check me on this!) and gained 16 lb. Considering her growth in height, a normal weight gain for Sasha should have been 25 lb.
Of course athletes are not normal and weight in pounds does not consider percent body fat. Because fat is less dense than lean mass (bone, lean muscle), Sasha probably has a lower percent body fat now than she did at age 15 because she's been doing weight and cardiovascular training, plus, relative to each inch of height, Sasha weighs less at 5'2" than she did at 4'9", if you follow my drift.
My point is, sports science is now such an integral part of every track-and-field, running, gymnast, and so many other athletes' training that I would have liked Swift to include more stats than the changes in Sasha's height and weight and how much she can leg press. My reason is the danger for athletes who need to maintain a low body weight to cross the line from elite levels of fitness to eating disorders.
I want to make it VERY CLEAR that I'm not saying Sasha has an eating disorder. However, IMO, her weight per height is too low by about 5 lb. of lean muscle. People may say, "I'm sure Sasha has a nutritionist on her team" just as much as I'm sure she doesn't. In sports where low body weight is not an issue, such as tennis, yes, it is very common for elite or elite-track female players of all ages to consult with a sports nutritionist. Also, the US gymnastic team bucked the trend in gymnastics starting in the mid-90s by hiring a sports nutritionist so the female gymnasts could be has healthy as possible considering the low-body-weight demands of the sport. The year the US female gymnasts won the team gold medal at the Olympics, the team weighed more, on average, than any of the other teams competing.
Don't worry, I won't get started--or I should say
really started.
I'm just saying that I wish Swift would have included just a few more basic facts about Sasha's body composition in the article. Even every diet website on the 'Net discusses Body Mass Index (BMI).
So I'll shut up about that and comment on the REALLY egregious error in the article: The first time Swift refers to Robin Wagner it's as "him." Start cracking the whip on your fact checkers SI!
But all in all, especially for figure skating, and especially for ladies figure skating, I think Swift's article is the first I've read in a lay publication that really takes figure skating seriously as a
sport, and I
loved seeing that. Swift didn't mention Sasha's interest in make-up and fashion at all and only made one reference to high heels, which Sasha wore for Halloween.
Even with my personal pecadillos about wanting more training and/or body composition info, I still give Swift's article an A.
Now, we shall see...
Rgirl
