LionDen
02-23-2006, 04:55 PM
Coach says U.S. star ‘energized,’ while Meissner, Hughes have medal shot
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U.S. skater Sasha Cohen practices last week at Palavela ice rink in Turin, Italy. Cohen is favored to to contend for the gold medal
TURIN, Italy - We've seen figure skaters competing without coaches, but this was a new one. There was John Nicks, the longtime coach of U.S. skater Sasha Cohen, standing rinkside Wednesday during the ladies' practice session, the one set aside for the top six on the eve of what is widely considered the biggest event in the Winter Olympics.
As the skaters ran through their programs, Nicks pulled out a magazine on powerboating, setting it on the ledge in front of him. He put on his reading glasses. He rested his elbows on the wall and flipped through it.
Nicks, as it turned out, had no one to coach. Cohen, who is leading a competition in which she, Russian Irina Slutskaya and Japanese Shizuka Arakawa are separated by .71 of a point, took the day off to rest. Her surprising absence set off a flurry of speculation about her health -- she wore an ice pack near her groin after Tuesday's performance -- that Nicks later dismissed.
Cohen, he said, was merely tired after a poor night's sleep. She said during a late breakfast that she had tossed and turned until after 3 a.m. and preferred to delay her practice until Thursday morning. The free skate begins at 7 that evening.
"We didn't get out of here [after Tuesday's performance] until 12:30, quarter to one," Nicks said after the late-afternoon practice. "She told me she couldn't get to sleep. She was excited and hyper; she knew she had done well.
"She was tired. She agreed to rest today and tomorrow have a short practice and try to be energized."
Cohen, 21, who on Tuesday attributed the ice pack to standard maintenance for a veteran skater, might have lacked energy for practice, but there was plenty of cackling through the Palavela from other sources. In an event with a history of rewarding underdogs and tough-minded teens, two American youngsters have declared themselves ready to pounce on a medal should any of the top skaters falter.
Kimmie Meissner, 16, the youngest skater in the U.S. delegation, sits in fifth place with 59.40 points, 6.62 points behind the third-place Arakawa. Emily Hughes, the younger sister of the 2002 Winter Games champion Sarah Hughes, is in seventh place, 8.94 points behind.
"I think they all have a chance," said Carol Heiss Jenkins, who coaches Japan's Miki Ando, who is in eighth place. "That is one thing about this new system . . . it makes it very interesting. You can move way up."
With his 10th-to-fourth leap in the free skate of the men's competition, American Evan Lysacek illustrated the possibilities under the new, points-based scoring system when a skater skates brilliantly and others collapse.
Hughes, 17, has the impressive bloodlines, but Meissner appears to possess the most legitimate shot. Both, though, stand far enough back that they, like Lysacek, would need failures from others to rise.
Meissner could make up significant ground if she hits the two triple-triple jump combinations she is planning. She was one of two skaters to land a triple-triple in the short program; the other was 16-year-old Georgian Elene Gedevanishvili, who finished sixth. Meissner, however, said she won't try a triple axel, a rarely landed jump she hit at the 2005 national championships.
"Anything's possible," Meissner said. "I think I have a good shot. I think everybody right now in the last group does. I'm trying to worry about how I skate, not the results, but it would be nice."
Hughes's medal hopes lie somewhere between improbable and impossible; her biggest challenge Thursday might be hanging onto seventh place. Unlike Meissner, Hughes is not considered a technical wizard and might not even try a triple-triple combination. Further, she lacks the international reputation to earn a boost in the program components score, an average of five artistic categories roughly equivalent to the old presentation mark.
Meissner was too young to attend the senior world championships last year. Hughes won a bronze, but in the junior event.
Hughes, though, knows skating history too well to be discouraged or worried. She watched from the third tier in Salt Lake City when her sister Sarah, 17 at the time, vaulted from fourth to first in one of the most stunning upsets in figure skating history. She seems to believe that she, too, could make some jaws drop.
"Tomorrow will be a really interesting competition because the points are so close, everyone is so competitive," she said. "This is the Olympics and anything can happen."
Cohen, of course, could ensure the most predictable outcome by simply skating well. Considered the sport's ultimate ballerina, she showed a bit of competitive bluster Tuesday that bodes well for Thursday. If she stands, she usually wins. She has high-level spins and footwork and an artistic mark nobody can beat, which is perhaps why Nicks said she won't even bother attempting a triple-triple combination.
As for the disruption skipping practice Wednesday might have caused, Nicks and Jenkins dismissed its significance. Indeed, Cohen surprised the field before the short program, when she skipped that day's morning workout in order to sleep late.
"I don't think it's unusual," Jenkins said. "It just depends on the skater."
Nicks said he attended the practice partly to time Cohen's music, to ensure her skate fell within the required 4 minutes 10 seconds, and partly to answer the inevitable questions about her absence.
"She was very happy in the morning, tired, relaxed," Nicks said. "She had a huge breakfast-brunch-lunch, whatever it was. She seemed fine."
The Washington Post Company
http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/060216/060216_cohen_hmed_11a.h2.jpg
U.S. skater Sasha Cohen practices last week at Palavela ice rink in Turin, Italy. Cohen is favored to to contend for the gold medal
TURIN, Italy - We've seen figure skaters competing without coaches, but this was a new one. There was John Nicks, the longtime coach of U.S. skater Sasha Cohen, standing rinkside Wednesday during the ladies' practice session, the one set aside for the top six on the eve of what is widely considered the biggest event in the Winter Olympics.
As the skaters ran through their programs, Nicks pulled out a magazine on powerboating, setting it on the ledge in front of him. He put on his reading glasses. He rested his elbows on the wall and flipped through it.
Nicks, as it turned out, had no one to coach. Cohen, who is leading a competition in which she, Russian Irina Slutskaya and Japanese Shizuka Arakawa are separated by .71 of a point, took the day off to rest. Her surprising absence set off a flurry of speculation about her health -- she wore an ice pack near her groin after Tuesday's performance -- that Nicks later dismissed.
Cohen, he said, was merely tired after a poor night's sleep. She said during a late breakfast that she had tossed and turned until after 3 a.m. and preferred to delay her practice until Thursday morning. The free skate begins at 7 that evening.
"We didn't get out of here [after Tuesday's performance] until 12:30, quarter to one," Nicks said after the late-afternoon practice. "She told me she couldn't get to sleep. She was excited and hyper; she knew she had done well.
"She was tired. She agreed to rest today and tomorrow have a short practice and try to be energized."
Cohen, 21, who on Tuesday attributed the ice pack to standard maintenance for a veteran skater, might have lacked energy for practice, but there was plenty of cackling through the Palavela from other sources. In an event with a history of rewarding underdogs and tough-minded teens, two American youngsters have declared themselves ready to pounce on a medal should any of the top skaters falter.
Kimmie Meissner, 16, the youngest skater in the U.S. delegation, sits in fifth place with 59.40 points, 6.62 points behind the third-place Arakawa. Emily Hughes, the younger sister of the 2002 Winter Games champion Sarah Hughes, is in seventh place, 8.94 points behind.
"I think they all have a chance," said Carol Heiss Jenkins, who coaches Japan's Miki Ando, who is in eighth place. "That is one thing about this new system . . . it makes it very interesting. You can move way up."
With his 10th-to-fourth leap in the free skate of the men's competition, American Evan Lysacek illustrated the possibilities under the new, points-based scoring system when a skater skates brilliantly and others collapse.
Hughes, 17, has the impressive bloodlines, but Meissner appears to possess the most legitimate shot. Both, though, stand far enough back that they, like Lysacek, would need failures from others to rise.
Meissner could make up significant ground if she hits the two triple-triple jump combinations she is planning. She was one of two skaters to land a triple-triple in the short program; the other was 16-year-old Georgian Elene Gedevanishvili, who finished sixth. Meissner, however, said she won't try a triple axel, a rarely landed jump she hit at the 2005 national championships.
"Anything's possible," Meissner said. "I think I have a good shot. I think everybody right now in the last group does. I'm trying to worry about how I skate, not the results, but it would be nice."
Hughes's medal hopes lie somewhere between improbable and impossible; her biggest challenge Thursday might be hanging onto seventh place. Unlike Meissner, Hughes is not considered a technical wizard and might not even try a triple-triple combination. Further, she lacks the international reputation to earn a boost in the program components score, an average of five artistic categories roughly equivalent to the old presentation mark.
Meissner was too young to attend the senior world championships last year. Hughes won a bronze, but in the junior event.
Hughes, though, knows skating history too well to be discouraged or worried. She watched from the third tier in Salt Lake City when her sister Sarah, 17 at the time, vaulted from fourth to first in one of the most stunning upsets in figure skating history. She seems to believe that she, too, could make some jaws drop.
"Tomorrow will be a really interesting competition because the points are so close, everyone is so competitive," she said. "This is the Olympics and anything can happen."
Cohen, of course, could ensure the most predictable outcome by simply skating well. Considered the sport's ultimate ballerina, she showed a bit of competitive bluster Tuesday that bodes well for Thursday. If she stands, she usually wins. She has high-level spins and footwork and an artistic mark nobody can beat, which is perhaps why Nicks said she won't even bother attempting a triple-triple combination.
As for the disruption skipping practice Wednesday might have caused, Nicks and Jenkins dismissed its significance. Indeed, Cohen surprised the field before the short program, when she skipped that day's morning workout in order to sleep late.
"I don't think it's unusual," Jenkins said. "It just depends on the skater."
Nicks said he attended the practice partly to time Cohen's music, to ensure her skate fell within the required 4 minutes 10 seconds, and partly to answer the inevitable questions about her absence.
"She was very happy in the morning, tired, relaxed," Nicks said. "She had a huge breakfast-brunch-lunch, whatever it was. She seemed fine."
The Washington Post Company