Sasha Cohen | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Full name | Alexandra Pauline Cohen | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Westwood, California, United States | October 26, 1984|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hometown | Newport Beach, California | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.58 m (5 ft 2 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Figure skating career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Country | United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Discipline | Women's singles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Began skating | 1992 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Retired | 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Alexandra Pauline "Sasha" Cohen (born October 26, 1984) is a retired American figure skater. She is the 2006 Olympic silver medalist, a three-time World Championship medalist, the 2003 Grand Prix Final Champion, and the 2006 U.S. Champion. She is known for her artistry, flexibility and body lines, and musical interpretation. [1] [2] [3] As of 2024 [update] , Cohen is the most recent American woman to medal individually in figure skating at the Olympics.
Cohen was born in Westwood, California, a neighborhood in Los Angeles. Her nickname "Sasha" is a Russian diminutive of "Alexandra". Her mother, Galina Cohen (née Feldman), is a Jewish immigrant from Odesa, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union and a former ballet dancer. Her father, Roger Cohen, is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law and formerly a law partner at Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison. Cohen has a younger sister, Natalia (nicknamed "Natasha"). She understands and can speak Russian, but refuses to speak it in public.[ citation needed ]
Cohen graduated from Futures High School in Mission Viejo, California in 2002. Cohen graduated from Columbia University in 2016 with a degree in political science. As a university student, she has used the name Alex rather than Sasha. [4] [5]
In 2005, Cohen published her autobiography, Fire on Ice. The autobiography was republished in 2006 with a new chapter on the 2006 season.
A gymnast from an early age, Cohen switched to figure skating when she was seven years old, but it wasn't until she was eleven that she began to take the sport seriously. One of her early skating coaches was Victor Yelchin, father of late actor Anton Yelchin. [6]
Cohen rose to prominence in the skating community during the 2000 U.S. Championships. Just up from juniors, Cohen was first in the short program and finished second overall after the free skate, provisionally qualifying for the senior World team. A loophole in the ISU's age rules at the time would have allowed her to compete at the senior World Championships if she medaled at the World Junior Championships but she finished 6th at the junior event. [7]
Cohen did not compete at the 2001 U.S. Nationals due to a stress fracture in her back. She resumed full training in June 2001. [8] Cohen won the silver medal at the 2002 U.S. Championships, earning her a trip to the Olympics. Cohen competed at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, finishing 4th. She also finished 4th at the 2002 World Championships, held in Nagano. Cohen was coached by John Nicks in California. [9]
In the summer of 2002, Cohen moved to the East Coast to train with Tatiana Tarasova at the International Skating Center of Connecticut in Simsbury, Connecticut. [10] [9] [11] She won her first ISU Grand Prix event at the 2002 Skate Canada and then won the 2002 Trophée Lalique. She won the silver medal at the 2002 Cup of Russia. These three placements earned her a spot to the 2002–03 Grand Prix Final, where she became the champion. At the 2003 U.S. championships she won the bronze medal, and at the 2003 World Championships, held in Washington, D.C., Cohen placed 4th, repeating her placement in the previous season.
Her best season was 2003–04, when she took gold at the 2003 Skate America, at the 2003 Skate Canada (setting a world record in the short program) and at the 2003 Trophée Lalique and won silver at the 2003–04 Grand Prix Final. In late December 2003, she changed coaches and began training with Robin Wagner in Hackensack, New Jersey. [9] [12] She placed second at both the 2004 U.S. Championships and the 2004 World Championships, getting a medal at Worlds for the first time in her career.
In the 2004–05 season, Cohen withdrew from her Grand Prix events due to a recurring back injury. In late December 2004, Cohen decided to return to California and train again with her first coach John Nicks. [13] [14] She placed 2nd at the 2005 U.S. Championships in Portland and the 2005 World Championships in Moscow, Russia.
Cohen started her Olympic season by placing first at the Campbell's International Figure Skating Challenge. Soon after she withdrew from Skate America due to a hip injury. [13] She took second 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. 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 Turin, Cohen was in first 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, 7.98 points behind gold medalist Shizuka Arakawa of Japan.
A month later at the 2006 World Championships in Calgary, Canada, Cohen was in first 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.
In 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 intended to compete in 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 would not defend her U.S. Figure Skating Championship title in 2007. She said that her "major goals" were the 2009 World Championships and the 2010 Olympics; "I know I want to be in Vancouver for the 2010 Olympics." [15]
Cohen did not compete in 2007, 2008, or 2009, although she did not give up her Olympic eligibility. She performed in exhibitions, including the Rockefeller Christmas Tree lighting and USFSA-approved events. She was a headliner in the 2007–08 and 2008–09 Stars on Ice tour.
Cohen announced on May 6, 2009, that she planned to make a comeback for the 2010 Winter Olympics. [16] She said she would train with Rafael Arutyunyan. [17] Cohen received invitations to compete in the 2009 Trophée Eric Bompard and in the 2009 Skate America in the 2009–10 Grand Prix series but withdrew from both due to tendinitis in her right calf. [18] [19] In November 2009, she changed coaches to John Nicks, who worked closer to where she lived. [20] [21]
On January 21, 2010, Cohen competed for the first time in four years at the 2010 U.S. Championships in Spokane, Washington. She debuted her program to España cañí, and skated a strong performance landing a triple lutz-double toe, a triple flip, a double Axel, along with her signature spiral sequence and spins earning 69.63 points putting her in second place, just 0.43 from first-place finisher Mirai Nagasu. In her free skate, set to Moonlight Sonata, she fell on a triple flip and had two-footed landings on a number of other jumps. She finished fourth in the championships, behind Rachael Flatt, Mirai Nagasu and Ashley Wagner, and was not selected for the Olympic team, rather appointed as second alternate to the 2010 U.S. Olympic team and the 2010 World Championship team. She retired from figure skating in 2010. [22]
In 2015, Cohen was inducted into the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. [23] The next January 22, U.S. Figure Skating made her part of the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame Class of 2016. [24]
Cohen is the first skater to receive +3s for spirals under the International Skating Union Judging System (IJS) for "Grade of Execution (GOE)", and was also the first female skater to break the +130 barrier on a free skate under the IJS. [25] At the beginning of her senior career she was labeled as one in the generation of "Baby Ballerinas" (alongside Naomi Nari Nam) due to her body lines and the ability to point her toes during difficult skating maneuvers such as triple jumps, spiral sequences and footwork. She is known for her 180º arabesque penchée spiral and Charlotte spiral, as well as the variety of positions in her spins. She popularized the I-spin position, which is sometimes informally referred to as the "Sasha spin", due to her exceptional execution of the move.
Cohen has participated in the ice show Stars On Ice for several years, as well as starring in the 2010 Art On Ice alongside Stéphane Lambiel. She joined 2010 Olympic ladies champion Yuna Kim in the All That Skate ice show, scheduled for July 23–25, 2010 in Goyang, South Korea, alongside other skaters including Michelle Kwan, Stéphane Lambiel and Brian Joubert. [26]
Cohen has appeared, as herself and as an actress playing a role, in commercials, television episodes, documentaries and feature films.
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 made a brief appearance guest starring as herself on the May 5, 2006 episode of the NBC drama, Las Vegas . [27] 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. She made a guest appearance as an ice skater in CSI: NY season 3 episode 12 "Silent Night". Cohen also participated in the 2013 edition of "Tornado Week" on The Weather Channel, helping break the myth that small tornadoes are not as destructive by demonstrating a tight spin.
Cohen played Fiona Hughes, Moondance Alexander's archenemy, in the Don Johnson movie Moondance Alexander . [28] 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 . In 2017, Cohen appeared as herself in the SyFy TV movie, Sharknado 5 .
Cohen was featured in The Weight of Gold (2020), an HBO Sports Documentary which "explor(es) the mental health challenges that Olympic athletes often face." [29] [30]
On July 5, 2015, it was announced that Cohen was engaged to hedge fund manager Tom May. [31] On August 20, 2016, the couple married in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. [32] In February 2018, she and May were living apart and going through divorce proceedings. [33] Cohen now works as an associate at Morgan Stanley. [34] In October 2019, Cohen announced her engagement to Geoffrey Lieberthal, an equity partner who is also the son of political scientist Kenneth Lieberthal. They have two children: a son born in January 2020 [35] and a daughter born in August 2021. [36] Cohen and Lieberthal married in September 2022 in Aspen Mountain, Colorado. [37]
Season | Short program | Free skating | Exhibition |
---|---|---|---|
2009–2010 |
|
|
|
2008–2009 | Did not compete |
| |
2007–2008 |
| ||
2006–2007 |
| ||
2005–2006 [13] |
|
|
|
2004–2005 [38] |
|
| |
2003–2004 [10] [39] |
|
|
|
2002–2003 [40] |
|
|
|
2001–2002 [41] |
|
|
|
2000–2001 |
|
| |
1999–2000 |
|
|
|
1998–1999 |
|
GP = Grand Prix; JGP = Junior Grand Prix
International [42] | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Event | 98–99 | 99–00 | 00–01 | 01–02 | 02–03 | 03–04 | 04–05 | 05–06 | 09–10 |
Olympics | 4th | 2nd | |||||||
Worlds | 4th | 4th | 2nd | 2nd | 3rd | ||||
GP Final | 1st | 2nd | |||||||
GP Cup of Russia | 4th | 2nd | |||||||
GP Lalique/Bompard | 3rd | 1st | 1st | 2nd | WD | ||||
GP Skate America | 5th | 1st | WD | ||||||
GP Skate Canada | 1st | 1st | |||||||
GP Sparkassen | 5th | ||||||||
Finlandia Trophy | 1st | ||||||||
International: Junior [42] | |||||||||
Junior Worlds | 6th | ||||||||
JGP Sweden | 1st | ||||||||
Gardena | 1st J | ||||||||
National | |||||||||
U.S. Champ. | 2nd J | 2nd | WD | 2nd | 3rd | 2nd | 2nd | 1st | 4th |
WD = Withdrew J = Junior |
2009–2010 season | |||||
Date | Event | QR | SP | FS | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
January 14–24, 2010 | 2010 U.S. Championships | – | 2 69.63 | 4 104.65 | 4 174.28 |
2005–2006 season | |||||
Date | Event | QR | SP | FS | Total |
March 21–23, 2006 | 2006 World 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 U.S. Championships | – | 1 65.15 | 1 134.03 | 1 199.18 |
November 17–20, 2005 | 2005 Trophée Eric Bompard | – | 2 60.96 | 2 114.16 | 2 175.12 |
2004–2005 season | |||||
Date | Event | QR | SP | FS | Total |
March 21–23, 2005 | 2005 World Championships | 1 28.41 | 2 61.37 | 2 124.61 | 2 185.98 |
January 9–16, 2005 | 2005 U.S. Championships | – | 2 | 2 | 2 3.0 |
2003–2004 season | |||||
Date | Event | QR | SP | FS | Total |
March 21–23, 2004 | 2004 World Championships | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 4.0 |
January 9–16, 2004 | 2004 U.S. Championships | – | 1 | 2 | 2 2.5 |
December 11–14, 2003 | 2003–04 Grand Prix Final | – | 2 60.80 | 2 116.68 | 2 177.48 |
November 13–16, 2003 | 2003 Trophée Lalique | – | 1 69.38 | 1 127.81 | 1 197.19 |
October 28–31, 2003 | 2003 Skate Canada International | – | 1 71.12 | 1 126.48 | 1 197.60 |
October 23–26, 2003 | 2003 Skate America | – | 1 66.46 | 1 130.89 | 1 197.35 |
2002–2003 season | |||||
Date | Event | QR | SP | FS | Total |
March 24–30, 2003 | 2003 World Championships | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4 7.2 |
February 28 – March 2, 2003 | 2002–03 Grand Prix Final | 1 (SP) | 2 (FS1) | 1 (FS2) | 1 2.6 |
January 12–19, 2003 | 2003 U.S. Championships | – | 3 | 2 | 2 |
November 22–24, 2002 | 2002 Cup of Russia | – | 2 | 2 | 2 3.0 |
November 14–17, 2002 | 2002 Trophée Lalique | – | 2 | 1 | 1 2.0 |
October 31 – November 3, 2002 | 2002 Skate Canada International | – | 1 | 1 | 1 1.5 |
2001–2002 season | |||||
Date | Event | QR | SP | FS | Total |
March 16–24, 2002 | 2002 World Championships | 2 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
February 21–23, 2002 | 2002 Winter Olympics | – | 3 | 4 | 4 5.5 |
January 6–13, 2002 | 2002 U.S. Championships | – | 2 | 2 | 2 3.0 |
November 15–18, 2001 | 2001 Trophée Lalique | – | 3 | 3 | 3 4.0 |
October 24–28, 2001 | 2001 Skate America | – | 4 | 5 | 4 7.0 |
Sarah Elizabeth Hughes is an American former competitive figure skater. She is the 2002 Olympic Champion and the 2001 World bronze medalist in ladies' singles.
Shizuka Arakawa is a retired Japanese figure skater. She is the 2006 Olympic champion and the 2004 World champion. Arakawa is the first Japanese skater to win an Olympic gold medal in figure skating and the second Japanese skater to win any Olympic medal in figure skating, after Midori Ito, who won silver in 1992. She is also the second Japanese woman to win a gold medal at the Winter Olympics, following skier Tae Satoya. She was the only Japanese medalist at the 2006 Winter Olympics.
Irina Eduardovna Slutskaya is a Russian former figure skater. She is a two-time World champion, two-time Olympic medalist, seven-time European champion, a four-time Grand Prix Final champion and a four-time Russian national champion. She won a record total of 17 titles on the Grand Prix circuit.
Maria Viktorovna Butyrskaya is a Russian retired figure skater. She is the 1999 World champion and a three-time European champion — becoming the oldest skater and the first Russian to win the World ladies' title and the oldest skater to win the European ladies' title. Butyrskaya placed fourth at the 1998 Winter Olympics and sixth at the 2002 Winter Olympics. She won the Russian national title six times.
Tanith Jessica Louise Belbin White is a Canadian American ice dancer and Olympic program host for NBC Sports. Though born in Canada, she holds dual citizenship and has competed for the United States since she began skating with Benjamin Agosto in 1998. With Agosto, Belbin is the 2006 Olympic silver medalist, four-time World medalist, three-time Four Continents champion (2004–2006), and five-time U.S. champion (2004–2008).
Carolina Kostner is an Italian figure skater. She is the 2014 Olympic bronze medalist, the 2012 World champion, a five-time European champion, and the 2011 Grand Prix Final champion. She is also a medalist at five other World Championships, six other European Championships, and three other Grand Prix Finals, the 2003 World Junior bronze medalist, and a nine-time Italian national champion. Kostner has won 11 medals at the European championships, most recently in 2018, and is the most decorated singles skater in the history of that competition.
Kimberly Claire Meissner is an American former competitive figure skater. She is the 2006 World champion, the 2007 Four Continents champion, and the 2007 U.S. national champion. She is the first American and the first woman to simultaneously hold the World, Four Continents, and national titles. In 2005, Meissner became the second American woman to land the triple Axel jump in national competition. She was the youngest American athlete to compete at the 2006 Olympics, coming in sixth place. She won the World Championships the following month, and the U.S. Nationals the following season. She was inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2020.
Miki Ando is a retired Japanese figure skater. She is the 2007 and 2011 World champion, 2011 Four Continents champion, 2004 World Junior champion, and a three-time Japanese national champion.
Katy Lynn Taylor is an American former competitive figure skater. She is the 2006 Four Continents Champion and 2004 Junior World bronze medalist. She was an alternate to the 2006 Winter Olympic team after finishing fourth at the 2006 United States Figure Skating Championships.
Beatrisa "Bebe" Liang is an American retired figure skater. She is the 2006 Four Continents bronze medalist, 2006 Nebelhorn Trophy champion, and 2007 U.S. national pewter medalist.
Vanessa Gusmeroli is a French former competitive figure skater and water skier. As a skater, she is the 1997 World bronze medalist and a three-time (2000–02) French national champion.
Mao Asada is a Japanese former competitive figure skater. She is the 2010 Olympic silver medalist, a three-time World champion, a three-time Four Continents champion, and a four-time Grand Prix Final champion. She is the first female figure skater who has landed three triple Axel jumps in one competition, which she achieved at the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Rena Inoue is a Japanese-born American retired pair skater. With partner John Baldwin, she is the 2004 and 2006 U.S. National Champion. Inoue previously competed for Japan as both a single skater and pair skater. Inoue and Baldwin are the first skaters to perform a throw triple Axel in competition.
Kiira Linda Katriina Korpi is a Finnish figure skater. She is a three-time European medalist, the 2010 Trophée Eric Bompard champion, the 2012 Rostelecom Cup champion, a two-time Cup of China medalist, and a five-time Finnish national champion. She retired from competitive skating in August 2015.
Yukari Nakano is a Japanese former competitive figure skater. She is the 2006 Four Continents silver medalist, the 2003 Four Continents bronze medalist, the 2005–06 Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, the 2007 Asian Winter Games champion, and a three-time Japanese national bronze medalist. Nakano is one of twelve female skaters to perform a triple Axel in international competition.
Ryan Scott Bradley is an American former competitive figure skater. He is the 2008 Skate Canada International silver medalist, the 2009 Skate America bronze medalist, the 2011 U.S. national champion, and a three-time U.S. Collegiate champion.
Caroline Zhao Zhang is an American figure skater. She is a two-time Four Continents bronze medalist, the 2007 World Junior Champion, the 2006 Junior Grand Prix Final champion, and a three-time U.S. national medalist.
Ashley Elisabeth Wagner is an American former competitive figure skater. She is the 2016 World silver medalist, a 2014 Olympic bronze medalist in the team event, the 2012 Four Continents champion, a three-time Grand Prix Final medalist, a thirteen-time Grand Prix medalist, and a three-time U.S. national champion. Wagner competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, and placed 7th. At the junior level, Wagner is a two-time World Junior bronze medalist, the 2006-07 Junior Grand Prix Final silver medalist, a two-time Junior Grand Prix medalist, and the 2007 U.S. junior bronze medalist.
Maria Vladimirovna Mukhortova is a Russian pair skater. With former partner Maxim Trankov, she is the 2008 European silver medalist, a five-time Grand Prix medalist, 2005 World Junior champion, 2004 Junior Grand Prix Final champion, and 2007 Russian national champion. In her early career, she competed with Egor Golovkin and Pavel Lebedev. She also competed one season with Jérôme Blanchard.
Mirai Aileen Nagasu is an American figure skater. She is a 2018 Olympic Games team event bronze medalist, three-time Four Continents medalist, the 2007 JGP Final champion, a two-time World Junior medalist, and a seven-time U.S. national medalist.
exploring the mental health challenges that Olympic athletes often face.
|
|