Sasha Cohen

Sasha Cohen

Sasha Cohen was born in Westwood, a neighborhood in Los Angeles, California. Her mother, Galina, is a Ukrainian Jewish immigrant and a former prima ballerina; her father, Roger Cohen, is an American Jewish lawyer. Sasha is the Ukranian nickname for Alexandra. A gymnast from an early age, Sasha switched to figure skating when she was seven years old. She is best known for her spiral sequences and layback spins as well as her flexibility and grace on the ice.

Sasha Cohen Career summary

Sasha Cohen competed at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, finishing fourth. Sasha Cohen's 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. She withdrew from 2004 Grand Prix events due to a recurring back injury, but returned to place second at 2005 US Nationals in Portland, Oregon, and World Figure Skating Championships in Moscow, Russia.

Sasha 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. She came back strong with a second place finish at Trophee Eric Bompard.

In 2006, Sasha Cohen overcame a severe flu to capture her first U.S. National Championship, winning the gold medal with a score of over 199 points, at the time the highest score ever awarded to any female skater under the modern scoring system. With this victorySasha Cohenn secured a place on Team USA 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 Torino Winter Games, Sasha Cohen stood in 1st after the short program, leading Russia's Irina Slutskaya by .03 points. In the long program, Sasha Cohen fell on a jump and had her hands down on a second. Her high level of difficulty, spins, and artistic scores earned her a large number of points despite these falls. These points, combined with multiple errors by favorite Irina Slutskaya, allowed Sasha Cohen to win her first Olympic medal, a silver.

Sasha Cohen, Torino 2006, Winter Olympics

Sasha Cohen