Sasha Cohen Figure Skating Photos
Marshalls Skating Competition 2006

About Sasha Cohen
Olympics 2006 Figure Skating Silver Medalist
Part seven: Sasha Cohen 2003-04

Sasha Cohen trained with Tarasova in 2003, but switched to Robin Wagner (previously Sarah Hughes' coach) in 2003 when Tarasova's health deteriorated. To ease a long commute, Sasha lived with Robin, who was very dedicated to her star pupil.

In 2003-04, Sasha won the gold medal at all three of her Grand Prix figure skating events, and silver at both U.S. Nationals and the World Figure Skating Championships. During the 2002-03 season, her long program was Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto; her short program, Malaguena. From 2003-04, her long program was Swan Lake, short program Malaguena, and exhibition Romeo and Juliet.

In her autobiography, Fire and Ice, Sasha confesses to spending days in tears after falling in competition. Meeting her own standards, and skating to the best of her ability, were at least as important to her as winning medals. Sometimes, her nerves got the better of her, and she completely lost her ability to perform certain jumps. During these times, she would repeatedly watch videos of herself performing those jumps perfectly in order to overcome her temporary difficulty. In an interview in 2004, she expressed how discouraged she used to be by her mistakes, but that "Now I don't dwell on things. I make a new plan of action, and use the fall or the mistake as motivation. You can turn anything into positive energy."

By fall 2004, Sasha was tired of living in a cold climate and missed California. She convinced her family to move back to southern California in December, where she would return to her previous coach, John Nicks.
Next: Sasha Cohen, 2005-2006

Last update December 28, 2006
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