Sasha Cohen facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Sasha Cohen |
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Cohen skating in 2009
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| Personal information | |
| Country represented |  United States |
| Born | October 26, 1984 Westwood, California, United States |
| Home town | Newport Beach, California |
| Height | 1.58 m (5 ft 2 in) |
| Began skating | 1992 |
| Retired | 2010 |
Alexandra Pauline "Sasha" Cohen (born October 26, 1984) is a retired American figure skater. She won a silver medal at the 2006 Olympic Games. Sasha also earned three medals at the World Championships. She was the Grand Prix Final Champion in 2003 and the U.S. Champion in 2006. Sasha was known for her artistic style, amazing flexibility, and how well she skated to music. As of 2024, she is the last American woman to win an individual figure skating medal at the Olympics.
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Early Life and Education
Sasha Cohen was born in Westwood, California. Her nickname "Sasha" is a short form of "Alexandra" in Russian. Her mother, Galina Cohen, came from Odesa, Ukraine. She was a ballet dancer. Sasha's father, Roger Cohen, was a lawyer. Sasha also has a younger sister named Natalia. Sasha understands and can speak Russian.
She finished high school in 2002. Later, in 2016, Sasha graduated from Columbia University. She studied political science there. While at university, she used the name Alex. In 2005, Sasha wrote a book about her life called Fire on Ice. It was updated in 2006 to include her 2006 skating season.
Skating Career
How She Started
Sasha was a gymnast when she was very young. She started figure skating at age seven. But she only began to take it seriously when she was eleven. One of her first coaches was Victor Yelchin.
Sasha became well-known in skating at the 2000 U.S. Championships. She was new to the senior level but placed first in the short program. She finished second overall. This almost qualified her for the senior World team. However, she needed to medal at the World Junior Championships to compete. She finished 6th there.
Becoming a Senior Skater
Sasha could not compete at the 2001 U.S. Nationals. This was because of a back injury. She started training fully again in June 2001. Sasha won the silver medal at the 2002 U.S. Championships. This earned her a spot at the Olympics. She competed at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, finishing 4th. She also placed 4th at the 2002 World Championships. Her coach at this time was John Nicks in California.
In 2002, Sasha moved to the East Coast. She trained with Tatiana Tarasova. She won her first ISU Grand Prix events at 2002 Skate Canada and 2002 Trophée Lalique. She also won a silver medal at the 2002 Cup of Russia. These wins led her to the 2002–03 Grand Prix Final, where she became the champion. At the 2003 U.S. Championships, she won bronze. She placed 4th again at the 2003 World Championships.
Her best season was 2003–04. She won gold at 2003 Skate America, 2003 Skate Canada, and 2003 Trophée Lalique. She even set a world record in the short program at Skate Canada. She won silver at the 2003–04 Grand Prix Final. In late 2003, she changed coaches to Robin Wagner. Sasha placed second at both the 2004 U.S. Championships and the 2004 World Championships. This was her first medal at the World Championships.
In the 2004–05 season, Sasha had to withdraw from some events. This was due to a back injury that kept coming back. In late 2004, she went back to California to train with her first coach, John Nicks. She placed 2nd at the 2005 U.S. Championships and the 2005 World Championships.
2006 Olympic Season
Sasha began her Olympic season by winning the Campbell's International Figure Skating Challenge. She later withdrew from Skate America because of a hip injury. She took second place at Trophée Eric Bompard. There, she fell on a triple salchow during her free skate. In 2006, Sasha won her first U.S. championship. This win secured her place on the U.S. Olympic team for the 2006 Winter Olympics.
At the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Sasha was in first place after the short program. She had a small lead over Russia's Irina Slutskaya. In the final free skate, Sasha fell on her first jump, a triple lutz. She also touched the ice with her hands on her second jump, a triple flip. She completed the rest of her routine well. Sasha finished with an Olympic silver medal. She was behind the gold medalist, Shizuka Arakawa of Japan.
A month later, at the 2006 World Championships in Calgary, Sasha was first after the short program. But she fell on a triple salchow in her free skate. She finished fourth in the free skate and won the bronze medal overall. Her teammate, Kimmie Meissner, won the gold.
Break from Competition
After the 2006 season, Sasha joined the Champions on Ice tour. She also performed in other skating shows. In April 2006, Sasha said she planned to compete in the 2010 season and the 2010 Winter Olympics. However, in December 2006, she announced she needed a break from competing. She did not compete in 2007, 2008, or 2009. But she still performed in exhibitions and ice shows like Stars on Ice.
Return to Competition
On May 6, 2009, Sasha announced she would try to make a comeback for the 2010 Winter Olympics. She planned to train with Rafael Arutyunyan. Sasha was invited to compete in two Grand Prix events. But she had to withdraw from both due to tendinitis in her right calf. In November 2009, she changed coaches back to John Nicks.
On January 21, 2010, Sasha competed for the first time in four years. This was at the 2010 U.S. Championships. She skated a strong short program and was in second place. In her free skate, she fell on a triple flip. She also had shaky landings on other jumps. She finished fourth overall. This meant she was not chosen for the 2010 Olympic team. She was named as an alternate. Sasha retired from figure skating in 2010.
Halls of Fame
In 2015, Sasha Cohen was added to the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. The next year, U.S. Figure Skating made her part of the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame.
Skating Style
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Sasha Cohen was known for her beautiful skating style. She was the first skater to get the highest scores for spirals under the new judging system. She was also the first female skater to score over 130 points in a free skate under this system. Early in her career, she was called a "Baby Ballerina." This was because of her graceful body lines and how she pointed her toes during jumps and spins. She was famous for her 180-degree arabesque spiral and Charlotte spiral. She also had many different positions in her spins. Sasha helped make the I-spin popular. Sometimes, people even called it the "Sasha spin" because she did it so well.
Ice Shows
Sasha Cohen has been a part of the Stars On Ice show for many years. She also performed in the 2010 Art On Ice show with Stéphane Lambiel. She joined 2010 Olympic champion Yuna Kim in the All That Skate ice show in South Korea. Other famous skaters like Michelle Kwan also performed there.
Television and Film
Sasha Cohen has appeared in commercials, TV shows, documentaries, and movies. She has played herself and acted in roles.
On Television
Sasha has been in commercials for Citizen Watch, Simply Saline, and Got Milk?. She appeared on Project Runway, where designers made a skating dress for her. She also made a brief guest appearance on the TV show Las Vegas in 2006. In 2008, she showed off her contortionist skills on Secret Talents of the Stars. Sasha also appeared as an ice skater in an episode of CSI: NY. In 2013, she was on The Weather Channel's "Tornado Week." She helped explain that small tornadoes can still be very powerful.
In Films
Sasha played Fiona Hughes in the movie Moondance Alexander. At the 2006 Academy Awards, Sasha was a guest reporter for Inside Edition. This led to her talking with Ben Stiller about being in a comedy movie about figure skating. She appeared as herself in Blades of Glory in 2007. Later that year, she also had a role in Bratz: The Movie. In 2017, Sasha appeared as herself in the SyFy TV movie, Sharknado 5.
Sasha was also in The Weight of Gold (2020). This HBO Sports Documentary looked at the mental health challenges that Olympic athletes can face.
Personal Life
On July 5, 2015, Sasha Cohen announced she was engaged to Tom May. They got married on August 20, 2016, in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. In February 2018, they separated and began divorce proceedings. Sasha now works at Morgan Stanley. In October 2019, Sasha announced her engagement to Geoffrey Lieberthal. They have two children, a son born in January 2020 and a daughter born in August 2021. Sasha and Geoffrey married in September 2022 in Aspen Mountain, Colorado.
Images for kids
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From left to right: Kimmie Meissner (silver), Sasha Cohen (gold), Emily Hughes (bronze), and Katy Taylor (pewter) at the 2006 U.S. Championships.
Competitive Highlights
Sasha Cohen had a very successful career. Here are some of her top achievements:
- Olympics: Silver medalist in 2006.
- World Championships: Silver medalist in 2004 and 2005, Bronze medalist in 2006.
- Grand Prix Final: Gold medalist in 2002–03, Silver medalist in 2003–04.
- U.S. Championships: Gold medalist in 2006, Silver medalist in 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005.
