Sasha Cohen Celebrates Silver Medal at Olympics
by Laura Fawcett |
| Friends and family celebrated Cohen's silver medal at the USA House after the event. |
2006 Olympic Winter Games Photos, News and Blogs
(2/24/06) - More than two hours after winning the silver medal Thursday night at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games, Sasha Cohen was greeted by family, friends and U.S. Figure Skating supporters at USA House. There was no disappointment at a lost opportunity for gold – either from Cohen or the crowd.
Instead, the cheers were for a champion who picked up the pieces of a shattered dream on the ice to finish her program with strength and class. With her mom and sister Natasha at her side, Cohen could enjoy a special moment that was just hers.
Among the crowd were teammates Melissa Gregory, Denis Petukhov and Evan Lysacek, and 1956 Olympic champion Tenley Albright. Later, U.S. ladies Kimmie Meissner and Emily Hughes arrived after spending time with their families. 2002 Olympic champion Sarah Hughes joined in the festivities, Natasha Cohen showed off her skills on the piano, and it was finally a time of relaxation.
Cohen continued to shine, silver medal around her neck. It wasn't the medal she had dreamed about, but Cohen has the maturity to realize the color of a medal isn't always the most important thing.
“It's one night – four minutes and a piece of metal,” she said. “It's more about the journey over the four years. It's not a one-night journey. In the process I learned a lot about myself and enjoyed it.”
Cohen's hopes for the gold were extinguished in the first 20 seconds of her program, when she fell on a triple Lutz (intended to be a Lutz-double toe-double loop combination) and stepped out of the following triple flip attempt (intended to be a triple flip-double toe). With a total score of 183.36, Cohen thought she would have no medal at all.
But none of the following skaters, save Japan's Shizuka Arakawa, posted a performance that could overtake her. Meissner was solid but did not manage either of her triple-triple combinations. And Russian Irina Slutskaya, skating last, succumbed to the pressure and landed four triples to fall to the bronze medal position.
It was a second consecutive Olympic disappointment for Slutskaya, who also struggled in her 2002 Olympic free skate to collect silver.
“I'm happy because I got another medal,” Slutskaya said. “You must understand it's a competition; it's a sport; it's ice, and anything can happen.”
For Cohen, after the initial fall and the pressure was off, she breezed through her “Romeo and Juliet” program, nailing her trademark spins and spirals and landing five triples.
“Bittersweet,” Cohen said of her performance. “I tried hard. I have no regrets. For that performance, silver is generous."
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| Sasha Cohen Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images Sport |
“I cannot believe it,” said Arakawa, who admitted she almost retired after winning the 2004 World title. “I made a mistake in the program, but I could skate with pleasure. I think I will realize that I have won a gold in the next two or three days."
Cheered on by an enthusiastic crowd, Meissner landed four clean triples in her program to “Belkis, Queen of Sheba,” but she knew she's skated better.
“It wasn't one of my best programs,” said Meissner, who finished sixth. “But it's pretty good for being my first Olympics. This experience tonight definitely inspires me for the next Olympics in 2010. Hard work will eventually pay off.”
It's paying off in some ways; she was in high demand Friday, doing a full day's worth of media appearances.
Hughes fell on a triple loop but otherwise skated cleanly, much to the delight of her family, including sister Sarah. Like Meissner, she was skating in her first major senior international competition, and a top 10 finish (seventh) is a medal in itself.
“This whole experience has been so much fun actually, not knowing what to expect,” she said. “It's been the biggest learning experience. It's been a big step up from last year, and I did a personal best. I'll take a lot away.”
For the U.S. Team, the night was a success, considering two of the skaters were newcomers. No other country finished with all three skaters in the top 10.
