Sasha Cohen - figure skater of the USA: personal life, sport achievements, coaches

Who did not admire the grace and beauty of the skaters ?! However, for graceful axels and triple sheepskin coats, which these fragile girls in bright dresses can easily perform on ice, are years of titanic labor. Not every girl can become a good skater. However, Sasha Cohen, a figure skater from the USA, having won silver at the 2006 Olympics, showed the world that she was not just a pretty young girl, but also a mature athlete who could cope with the most difficult figures.

Sasha Cohen's family

If Sasha Roger's father was an absolute American, then the mother Galina was an Odessa citizen who emigrated to the United States at the age of 16.

Galina Feldman once proved to be a good gymnast and ballerina, but she could not make a career in the United States. A talented emigrant soon married and gave birth to two beautiful daughters - Alexander and Natasha. If Natasha Cohen, when she grew up, became a pianist, then Alexander, or, as her family called her, Sasha, went at the mother's feet and got carried away by the sport.

The beginning of sports career

Sasha Cohen was born in 1984 in a suburb of Los Angeles. Hardly having learned to go, the little girl began to do gymnastics. Having inherited flexibility and artistry from her mother, Sasha made great strides and easily performed the most complex gymnastic exercises.

At the age of seven, a very young Alexander, without the knowledge of his parents, signed up for classes at the local ice rink. Arriving home, Sasha put her father and mother in front of the fact: from gymnastics, she goes to solitary figure skating.

First successes

If at first figure skating for Sasha was a pleasant pastime, then by the age of eleven it became clear that the girl had a talent. A small, dexterous, strong, with perfect gymnastic preparation, Alexandra was simply created for figure skating.

Starting to perform at various American competitions, Cohen immediately attracted attention. She rode truly divine. One of Sasha Cohen's brand numbers was the execution of the l spin element in his program, thanks to which the fans nicknamed the girl "Sasha spin".

However, she really managed to attract attention to the 2000 US figure skating championship Sasha Cohen. The figure skater impressed the audience with her mature skill and got into the national team of the United States.

Because of active grueling training in the next year, Sasha suffered a serious back injury, which prevented her from performing at the US Championship. Quickly recovering, next year Cohen again won silver at the US Championship, which became her ticket for the 2002 Winter Olympics.

The way to Olympic silver

Unfortunately, at the Olympics in Salt Lake City, Alexandra took fourth place, barely reaching for bronze. To improve her success, Sasha decided to change the coach.

Like many US figure skaters, Miss Cohen turned to a professional from Russia. After successful negotiations, the American began to train Tatyana Tarasova, who brought up many champions.

Thanks to the new coach, Sasha Cohen improved her skills in the sports season 2002-2003. Cohen won the competition Skate Canada, Trophée Lalique. At the Cup of Russia Alexandra took 2nd place, at the US Championship - only III, and at the World Figure Skating Championships the girl became the fourth.

The next sports season of 2003-2004 became the best in Coen's professional career. She won gold at Skate Canada, Trophée Lalique and Skate America. In addition, Alexandra won silver at such prestigious competitions as the Grand Prix Final, the US and World Championships in figure skating.

Unexpectedly for many sports fans, Cohen-Tarasov's union broke up in the middle of the most successful season of the figure skater.

During the 2004-2005 sports season, Sasha Cohen again suffered a serious back injury. The figure skater was forced to miss important competitions, restoring the form, which did not prevent her, however, to win silver medals in the US and world championships.

Completely restored, during the 2005-2006 sports season, Alexandra won gold for the first time at the US Championships, and although she was only third at the World Championships, she still got into the Olympic team.

Despite serious competition, at the 2006 Winter Olympics Cohen demonstrated an excellent program. Because of the two falls, she barely managed to reach gold, losing to Japanese woman Shizuka Arakawa, and she herself became a silver medalist. It is noteworthy that earlier the Japanese figure skater was trained by Tatyana Tarasova and her team, with whom Sasha Cohen herself also worked.

Leaving the sport and trying to return

After the Olympics, Sasha Cohen announced her retirement from the sport. Having finished her sports career, Cohen decided to try her hand at other pursuits. Using her skills as a figure skater, Alexandra participated in many show programs. In particular, in the famous television show Stars On Ice for several years, Sasha was a permanent participant.

I also tried my hand at the movie actress Sasha Cohen. The figure skater played small roles in the films "The Winner" (Moondance Alexander), "Blades of Glory: Blades of Glory" ("Blades of Glory") and "Bratz" (Bratz). Also Ben Stiller invited the sportswoman to play in his new film about figure skating, but, unfortunately, this project was never launched.

Due to the frequent appearance on TV screens, Sasha Cohen bought more fans than during her successful sports career. She was invited to appear in advertising and on the covers of many sports publications. In addition, she was included in the ratings of the most beautiful female athletes of the world (along with Anna Kournikova).

In early 2010, Sasha made an attempt to return to professional sports and even wanted to break through to the 2010 Olympics. However, because of problems with the tendon, the athlete missed many competitions, and in the US championship she took only IV place, which prevented her from attending the 2014 Olympic Games.

Today the girl continues her career on television. In January 2016, Sasha Cohen became a member of the US Figure Skating Hall of Fame.

Sasha Cohen skater: personal life

As for the personal life, the admirers of the beautiful Sasha have a lot. However, the serious relationship the girl dared only recently.

While studying at the Harvard Business School in 2014 at one of the university parties, Alexander met with a hedge fund manager named Tom May. Soon after the dating the couple began to meet, and in 2015 announced the engagement.

Trainers Sasha Cohen: John Nix, Robin Wagner and Tatyana Tarasova

Talking about the achievements of any athlete, it is impolite not to remember his coach. After all, it is a wise, experienced mentor who can help an athlete succeed. Sasha Cohen became famous for the frequent change of coaches, although among professional sportsmen it is not uncommon.

Coen's first professional coach was Briton John Nix. Once he was a famous figure skater, but after completing his sports career, he moved to the United States and retrained as a coach. For a long time he coached Sasha Cohen, but after losing at the 2002 Olympics, the girl stopped co-operating with him.

A new coach Cohen became Russian Tatyana Tarasova. This woman brought up eight Olympic champions and perfectly suited the ambitious Alexandra. Tarasova seriously took up a young athlete, and under her leadership the girl achieved significant success. However, over time, differences began to arise between the athlete and the coach, and they stopped working together.

Cohen did not comment on the reason for this "break". But Tatiana Anatolyevna in some interviews told her version of the reasons for what happened. According to her, Sasha is a very talented and efficient athlete. But the successes that she achieved with Tarasova, turned the girl's head and she began to violate the sports regime, which began to affect her health. Afraid to lose sponsorship support, Cohen took part in competitions even the sick, because of what her results worsened. However, instead of returning to the regime, the girl preferred to change the coach.

The next coach of the obstinate Alexandra was the American Robin Wagner. In addition to training, she helped Sasha also put the program in which the elements developed earlier by Tarasova were used.

At one time, Cohen was about to return to John Knox, but this did not happen. Tarasova argued that the former coach simply did not accept a stern athlete. Other sources claim that because of Alexander's injury he could not participate in the competitions and the coach could not wait long for her to return. In any case, despite all the obstacles, Cohen, later was able to win Olympic silver.

Quite complex and cruel sport figure skating. Women can not be professional skaters for very long, since after 25 years the body is not able to tolerate constant grueling workouts and the number of injuries increases. In this regard, the chance to become an Olympic champion for the figure skater is only 2-3 times in life. So it happened with Sasha Cohen. Her first olympiad she lost, the second won silver, and the third did not get due to injuries and loss. Despite the fact that her career in sports was so short, the girl was able to find her place in life after her graduation, which is worthy of praise and admiration.