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Sasha Cohen extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License

Olympic medal record
Figure skating
Silver	2006 Turin	Ladies' singles

Sasha Cohen

Cohen performs an arabesque at the 2009 Stars on Ice.
Personal Information
Full name:	Alexandra Pauline Cohen
Country represented:	United States
Date of birth:	October 26, 1984 (1984-10-26) (age 24)
Place of birth:	Westwood, Los Angeles, California
Height:	157 cm (5 ft 2 in)
Coach:	Rafael Arutunian
Former coach:	John Nicks Robin Wagner Tatiana Tarasova
Former choreographer:	Marina Zueva Igor Shpilband David Wilson Nikolai Morozov
Skating club:	Orange County FSC
ISU Personal Best Scores
Combined Total:	197.60	2003 Skate Canada
Short Program:	71.12	2003 Skate Canada
Free Skate:	130.89	2003 Skate America

Alexandra Pauline "Sasha" Cohen (born October 26, 1984) is an American figure skater. She is the 2006 Olympic silver medalist, 2003 Grand Prix Final Champion, and 2006 U.S. National Champion.

Contents 1 Personal life 2 Skating career 2.1 Post 2006 Olympics 2.2 Return to Competition 3 Coaching changes 4 Skating trademarks 5 Acting career 5.1 Television 5.2 Film 6 Competitive highlights 6.1 Post-2001 6.2 Pre-2001 7 Detailed results 7.1 Post-2001 7.2 2001 and earlier 8 Programs 9 References 10 External links

Personal life

Cohen was born in Westwood, California, a neighborhood in Los Angeles. Her nickname "Sasha" is a Russian nickname for "Alexandra." Her mother, Galina Feldman, is a Jewish immigrant from Ukraine and a former ballet dancer; her father, Roger Cohen, is a Jewish American business consultant who is an attorney with Dorsey & Whitney LLP.¹² Sasha graduated from Futures High School in Mission Viejo, California in 2002. Her sister, Natalia ("Natasha"), began college at Barnard College in August 2006.

In 2005, she published her autobiography, Fire on Ice.

Cohen understands Russian.³

Skating career

A gymnast from an early age, Cohen switched to figure skating when she was seven years old, but it wasn't until she was 10 that she began to take the sport seriously.

Cohen rose to prominence in the skating community during the 2000 United States Figure Skating Championships. Just up from juniors, Cohen dropped from first place after the short program to second after the free skating and qualified for the world team. Too young for the World Figure Skating Championships, a loophole at the time would have allowed her to compete in senior worlds if she medaled at the World Junior Figure Skating Championships. Cohen did not medal at world juniors and so did not go to senior worlds.

Cohen did not compete at the 2001 Nationals due to a stress fracture in her back^{citation needed}, but took back her silver medal at the 2002 Nationals, earning her a trip to the Olympics. Cohen competed at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, finishing 4th. Her best season was 2003–04, when she took gold at three Grand Prix events and silver at both the U.S. National Championships and the World Championships. Cohen placed 2nd at the 2005 U.S. National Championships in Portland and the World Championships in Moscow, Russia. She withdrew from the 2005 Grand Prix events due to a recurring back injury.

Cohen started her Olympic season by placing 1st at the Campbell's International Figure Skating Challenge. Soon after she withdrew from Skate America due to a hip injury. She took 2nd place at Trophée Eric Bompard, where she fell on a triple Salchow during her free skate. In 2006, Cohen overcame the flu to capture her first U.S. National Championship. With this victory Cohen automatically secured her place on the U.S. Olympic team for the 2006 Winter Olympics, a spot made official on January 14 of that year by the United States Figure Skating Association.

At the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Cohen was in 1st after the short program, leading Russia's Irina Slutskaya by a mere .03 points. In the final free skate, Cohen fell on her first jump, a triple Lutz, and had her hands down on her second jump, the triple flip. She completed the rest of her elements, including five triples. Cohen finished with an Olympic silver medal, her first Olympic medal. The Olympic gold medalist, Shizuka Arakawa of Japan, won by 7.98 points over Cohen.

A month later at the 2006 World Championships in Calgary, Canada, Cohen was in 1st place after the short program. Completing only one jump combination and falling on the triple Salchow, she placed fourth in the free skate and won the bronze medal, finishing almost ten points behind her teammate, gold medalist Kimmie Meissner. Cohen displayed strong artistry in her free skate and picked up level fours on all her spins and her spiral sequence. Her program component score of 61.35 was the highest of the night.

Post 2006 Olympics

During April 2006, Cohen started the Champions on Ice tour, participated in the second annual "Skating with the Stars, Under the Stars" gala in Central Park and performed in the Marshalls U.S. Figure Skating International Showcase. On April 15, 2006, Cohen announced that she intends to compete into the 2010 season and the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. She said via her official website, "I will decide after the COI Tour how much skating and what events I will do next season."

In December 2006, Cohen announced that she needed "a little downtime from competing" and that she will not defend her US Figure Skating Championship title in 2007. She again stressed that her "major goals" are the 2009 World Figure Skating Championships and the 2010 Olympics; "I know I want to be in Vancouver for the 2010 Olympics."⁴

Cohen did not compete in the 2006-07 competitive season, although she did perform exhibitions, including at the Rockefeller Christmas Tree lighting and at USFSA-approved events. She has not given up her Olympic eligibility.

Cohen was a headliner in the 2007-08 and 2008-09 Stars on Ice tour.

Return to Competition

Cohen announced on May 6, 2009 that she will make a comeback for the 2010 Olympics.⁵ And she got invitations to compete in the 2009 Trophée Eric Bompard and in the 2009 Skate America in the 2009-2010 Grand Prix Series.

Coaching changes

Cohen was coached by John Nicks until the summer of 2002, when she relocated to Simsbury, Connecticut to train with Russian coach Tatiana Tarasova, who choreographed Cohen's Swan Lake program and upgraded her footwork. Under Tarasova's coaching, Cohen landed her first triple-triple combination in competition, a triple lutz-triple toe. Also, Cohen completed her first clean free skate in the qualifying round at the 2003 World Championships.

She changed coaches again in January 2004 to Robin Wagner (who coached Sarah Hughes to Olympic gold) in Hackensack, New Jersey. In December 2004, Cohen returned to California to work with her original coach, John Nicks, who trained her to compete in the 2006 Olympic Winter Games. Nicks, who is very knowledgeable on the Code of Points system, helped Cohen increase the difficulty of her spins and spirals, as well as her jumps, to maximize her performances under the new system.

With her announcement of a comeback on May 6, 2009, she also announced that she would train with Rafael Arutunian, instead of her former coach John Nicks.⁶.

Skating trademarks

Cohen is known for being a talented skater, though her critics say she has never skated two clean programs in a row.⁷⁸

Cohen is the first skater to have received +3s for spirals in the new judging system for 'Grade of Execution'.⁹ She is also known for difficult and creative positions in her spins, such as the "I" spin position which she popularized, and is also sometimes called the "Sasha spin."¹⁰

Acting career

Television

Cohen has done commercials for Citizen Watch, Simply Saline, and Got Milk?. She appeared in Episode 7 of the second season of Project Runway wherein designers were challenged to design a skating dress for her. The winning dress (by Zulema Griffin) did not fit and the dress had to be resized. Cohen has made a brief appearance guest starring, as herself, on the May 5, 2006, episode of the NBC drama, Las Vegas.¹¹ Cohen has also appeared in the television crime drama CSI: NY. In April 2008, she appeared as a contortionist on the premiere episode of Secret Talents of the Stars and advanced to the semifinals, although the show was cancelled before she could perform again.

Film

Cohen played Fiona Hughes in the Don Johnson movie Moondance Alexander.¹² At the 2006 Academy Awards, Cohen served as a guest correspondent for Inside Edition. This experience led to an encounter with Ben Stiller and a discussion about having a part in a future comedy about figure skating, which Cohen said she would enjoy. In 2007, she appeared as herself in Blades of Glory. Later that year, she also had a role in Bratz: The Movie.

Competitive highlights

Post-2001

Event	2001-2002	2002-2003	2003-2004	2004-2005	2005-2006	2009-2010
Winter Olympic Games	4th				2nd
World Championships	4th	4th	2nd	2nd	3rd
U.S. Championships	2nd	3rd	2nd	2nd	1st
Grand Prix Final		1st	2nd
Skate America	5th		1st
Trophee Eric Bompard	3rd	1st	1st		2nd
Skate Canada		1st	1st
Cup of Russia		2nd
Finlandia Trophy	1st

• Cohen did not compete 2006-2007, 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 season.

Pre-2001

Event	1997-1998	1998-1999	1999-2000	2000-2001
World Junior Championships			6th
U.S. Championships	6th N.	2nd J.	2nd	WD
Cup of Russia				4th
Junior Grand Prix, Sweden			1st
Nations Cup				5th
Gardena Spring Trophy		1st J.
Pacific Coast Sectionals	2nd N.	1st J.	1st
Southwest Pacific Regionals	2nd N.	1st J.

• N = Novice level; J = Junior level; WD = Withdrew

Detailed results

Post-2001

2009–2010 season
Date	Event	QR	SP	FS	Result
November 12 – 15, 2009	2009 ISU Grand Prix Skate America	-	- -	- -	- -
October 15 - 18, 2009	2009 ISU Grand Prix Trophée Eric Bompard	-	- -	- -	- -
2005–2006 season
Date	Event	QR	SP	FS	Result
March 21 - 23, 2006	2006 ISU World Figure Skating Championships	3 27.59	1 66.62	4 114.67	3 181.29
February 21 - 23, 2006	2006 Winter Olympics	-	1 66.73	2 116.63	2 183.36
January 7 - 15, 2006	2006 United States Figure Skating Championships	-	1 65.15	1 134.03	1 199.18
November 17 - 20, 2005	2005 ISU Grand Prix Trophée Eric Bompard	-	2 60.96	2 114.16	2 175.12
2004–2005 season
Date	Event	QR	SP	FS	Result
March 21 - 23, 2005	2005 ISU World Figure Skating Championships	1 28.41	2 61.37	2 124.61	2 185.98
January 9 - 16, 2005	2005 United States Figure Skating Championships	-	2	2	2 3.0
2003–2004 season
Date	Event	QR	SP	FS	Result
March 21 - 23, 2004	2004 ISU World Figure Skating Championships	1	1	3	2 4.0
January 9 - 16, 2004	2004 United States Figure Skating Championships	-	2	2	2 3.0
December 11 - 14, 2003	2003-2004 ISU Grand Prix Final	-	2 60.80	2 116.68	2 177.48
November 13 - 16, 2003	2003 ISU Grand Prix Trophée Lalique	-	2 69.38	2 127.81	1 197.19
October 28 - 31, 2003	2003 ISU Grand Prix Skate Canada	-	1 71.12	1 126.48	1 197.60
October 23 - 26, 2003	2003 ISU Grand Prix Skate America	-	1 66.46	1 130.89	1 197.35
2002–2003 season
Date	Event	QR	SP	FS	Result
March 24 - 30, 2003	2003 ISU World Figure Skating Championships	3	5	3	4 7.2
February 28 - March 2 , 2003	2002-2003 ISU Grand Prix Final	1 (SP)	2 (FS1)	1 (FS2)	1 2.6
January 12 - 19, 2003	2003 United States Figure Skating Championships	-	3	2	2
November 22 - 24, 2002	2002 ISU Grand Prix Cup of Russia	-	2	2	2 3.0
November 14 - 17, 2002	2002 ISU Grand Prix Trophée Lalique	-	2	1	1 2.0
October 31 - November 3, 2002	2002 ISU Grand Prix Skate Canada	-	1	1	1 1.5
2001–2002 season
Date	Event	QR	SP	FS	Result
March 16 - 24, 2002	2002 ISU World Figure Skating Championships	2	5	4	4
February 21 - 23, 2002	2002 Winter Olympics	-	3	4	4 5.5
January 6 - 13, 2002	2002 United States Figure Skating Championships	-	2	2	2 3.0
November 15 - 18, 2001	2001 ISU Grand Prix Trophée Lalique	-	3	3	3 4.0
October 24 - 28, 2001	2001 ISU Grand Prix Skate America	-	4	5	4 7.0

2001 and earlier

• 2001: Goodwill Games - 4th, Finlandia Trophy - 1st
• 2000: U.S. Championships - 2nd, World Junior Championships - 6th, Cup of Russia - 4th
• 1999: U.S. Championships, Junior - 2nd

Programs

Season	Short Program	Long Program	Exhibition
2009–10	TBD	TBD	TBD
2008–09 2007–08 2006–07	Did not compete these seasons	Did not compete these seasons	Hurt by Christina Aguilera What's Left Of Me by Nick Lachey It's So Hard To Say Goodbye by Boyz II Men Anytime, Anywhere by Sarah Brightman Don't Stop The Music by Rihanna Moonlight Sonata by Ludwig Van Beethoven
2005–06	Dark Eyes Russian folk song	Romeo and Juliet Soundtrack from the 1968 movie by Nino Rota	Don't Rain on My Parade by Barbra Streisand God Bless America by Celine Dion
2004–05	Dark Eyes Russian folk song	Pas de deux from The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky	Don't Rain on My Parade by Barbra Streisand
2003–04	Malagueña by Ernesto Lecuona	Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky	Romeo and Juliet choreographed by Tatiana Tarasova
2002–03	Malagueña by Ernesto Lecuona	Piano Concerto No. 2 by Rachmaninoff	Romeo and Juliet choreographed by Tatiana Tarasova One Day I'll Fly Away from Moulin Rouge! by Nicole Kidman
2001–02	My Sweet and Tender Beast by Evgeni Doga	Carmen by Georges Bizet	Hernando's Hideaway by Ella Fitzgerald Aria by Heitor Villa-Lobos
2000–01	My Sweet and Tender Beast by Evgeni Doga	Dark Eyes Russian folk song orchestrated by London Festival Orchestra	Anytime, Anywhere by Sarah Brightman To Love You More by Celine Dion
1999–2000	Baroque Selections by Vivaldi and Albinoni	Violin Concerto by Mendelssohn	Madame Butterfly by Puccini

References

• Cohen, Sasha. (2006). Fire on Ice (Revised Edition): Autobiography of a Champion Figure Skater. Collins. ISBN 0-06-115385-0

• Winter Olympics scores
  • 2006 Winter Olympics, 2002 Winter Olympics
• World Championships scores
  • 2006 Worlds, 2005 Worlds, 2004 Worlds, 2003 Worlds, 2002 Worlds
• ISU Grand Prix Finals
  • 2003-04 GPF, 2002-03 GPF
• United States Nationals scores
  • 2006 Nationals, 2005 Nationals, 2004 Nationals, 2003 Nationals, 2002 Nationals, 2000 Nationals

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sasha Cohen

• Official website
• Sasha Cohen at the United States Figure Skating Association
• Sasha Cohen at the International Skating Union
• Sasha Cohen at the Internet Movie Database

v • d • e United States national champions in figure skating – Ladies' singles 1914: Theresa Weld · 1918: Rosemary Beresford · 1920–1924: Theresa Weld · 1925–1927: Beatrix Loughran · 1928–1933: Maribel Vinson · 1934: Suzanne Davis · 1935–1937: Maribel Vinson · 1938–1940: Joan Tozzer · 1941–1942: Jane Vaughn · 1943–1948: Gretchen Merrill · 1949–1950: Yvonne C. Sherman · 1951: Sonya Klopfer · 1952–1956: Tenley Albright · 1957–1960: Carol Heiss · 1961: Laurence Owen · 1962: Barbara Roles · 1963: Lorraine Hanlon · 1964–1968: Peggy Fleming · 1969–1973: Janet Lynn · 1974–1976: Dorothy Hamill · 1977–1980: Linda Fratianne · 1981: Elaine Zayak · 1982–1984: Rosalynn Sumners · 1985: Tiffany Chin · 1986: Debi Thomas · 1987: Jill Trenary · 1988: Debi Thomas · 1989–1990: Jill Trenary · 1991: Tonya Harding · 1992: Kristi Yamaguchi · 1993: Nancy Kerrigan · 1994: * · 1995: Nicole Bobek · 1996: Michelle Kwan · 1997: Tara Lipinski · 1998–2005: Michelle Kwan · 2006: Sasha Cohen · 2007: Kimmie Meissner · 2008: Mirai Nagasu · 2009: Alissa Czisny *Title stripped from Tonya Harding

v • d • e Grand Prix Final Champions in Figure Skating – Ladies' Singles 1995-1996: Michelle Kwan · 1996-1997: Tara Lipinski · 1997-1998: Tara Lipinski · 1998-1999: Tatiana Malinina · 1999-2000: Irina Slutskaya · 2000-2001: Irina Slutskaya · 2001-2002: Irina Slutskaya · 2002-2003: Sasha Cohen · 2003-2004: Fumie Suguri · 2004-2005: Irina Slutskaya · 2005-2006: Mao Asada · 2006-2007: Kim Yu-Na · 2007-2008: Kim Yu-Na · 2008-2009: Mao Asada

Persondata
NAME	Cohen, Sasha
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Cohen, Alexandra Pauline
SHORT DESCRIPTION	American figure skater
DATE OF BIRTH	October 26, 1984
PLACE OF BIRTH	Westwood, California
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH