It looks like the third time might be the charm for Sasha Cohen. Earlier this week, the Olympic silver medalist told several media outlets she intends to compete at the 2010 AT&TU.S. Figure Skating Championships, which for ladies begins in Spokane on January 21. Yesterday, representatives for Cohen confirmed her plans remain unchanged.
"Of course, I'm nervous about coming back because I'm finally putting myself out there for everyone to see," Cohen told Juliet Macur of The New York Times. "But if I skate the way I do in practice, I am confident that I will make the team."
Last fall, Cohen withdrew from Trophee Eric Bompard and Skate America, citing tendinitis in her right calf. Since then, many in the skating world have adopted a wait-and-see attitude towards her return to competition.
"Well, I'm skeptical. I don't know about anyone else," Ashley Wagner, the country's top-performing lady on the Grand Prix circuit this fall, said on a teleconference earlier this week.
"I just think it's very, very hard to have your first competition be nationals, but you know, I'm not counting her out, she's still part of the equation. If she's there, she's there, if she's not, she's not. But I'm definitely not counting her out."
In an interview with icenetwork the week after Skate America, the 25-year-old Cohen said despite the withdrawals, her training was going well, and she had regained all of her triple jumps.
"My body feels good; now I can do everything in practice," she said. "I can do all the jumps. I'm capable of doing a six or seven-triple program at nationals if I skate well.
"I really love competing, so withdrawing from Skate America was frustrating, but that's life. I had a hard summer training and I have the rest of November, December and part of January to put it all together."
Cohen added that she had hoped to have a triple-triple combination in her arsenal at Spokane but was hampered all summer and fall by boot problems.
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