A Russian article on Sasha, new TT quotes
 

Sasha Cohen: A little tiger who walks by herself. By Elena Voitsehovskaya
Original Russian is here: http://www.velena.ru/skating/kohen2005.htm

About a year ago, when figure skating had just begun experimenting with the new judging system, I wrote in one of my reports: “Ladies singles skating has a new unbeatable leader—Sasha Cohen”.


However, aside from the two wins in the Grand Prix Series 2003, the American was unable to achieve great success. The question remains: why?

American coach Robin Wagner said this about Cohen:” I am convinced that the word “success” as applied to this athlete can mean only one thing: victory.”

It was to seek victory that Cohen left her coach John Nicks for Tatiana Tarasova in the summer of 2003. She moved to another coast from California to Hartford. She and Nicks had visited Tarasova during the previous summer right after the Worlds in Nagano to choreograph programs for the new season. She probably made the decision (to switch) right then and there.

She always makes her own decisions, her mother Galina told me. At the age of seven and a half she went to an ice rink and signed up for classes. My husband and I found out post factum, when Sasha came home. She made a good argument explaining why she didn’t want to continue doing gymnastics and wanted to take up figure skating. She took group lessons at first and then—by her own initiative, transferred to the Nick’s group. We lived in California at the time, south of LA. We were informed in the summer of 2003 that our daughter had decided to move to the East Coast. Although she did say that she’d love it if we moved with her, adding quickly “If that would be too complicated, I will go alone.”

Haftford
At first the Cohen/Tarasova relationship looked idyllic. “You get so caught up working with Tatiana that it’s sometimes hard to stop. At the same time, I’ve never met a coach who was such an intense and hard worker” Sasha said.

“Incredible talent. Very rare. Not of this earth” said Tarasova of the athlete. “ I have never met a person who would so fanatically and cheerfully torture herself during practices. Sasha takes on a workload of a man. I didn’t think she could work like that.”

The results of this collaboration were evident rather quickly. If you remember Cohen’s first appearance on senior ice, the most remarkable thing was not necessarily her skating but her gymnast’s flexibility. Her gorgeous spirals that made other ladies skaters look bland and even awkward. Other ladies had to count on the weak and unstable (why hide it) jumps of the young American.

At the first GP competitions in the fall 2003 Cohen appeared as an athlete whose programs had no weaknesses. This gave Tarasova a reason to say:” I don’t care which system will be used to evaluate Sasha’s skating. She will win anyway.”

That season Cohen managed to beat the unbeatable in the US Michelle Kwan. But that only happened once during a Pro Am competition in New York.

“After a win like that an athlete grows wings” said Tarasova. They develop a confidence that cannot be obtained through any amount of practice.”

But then Cohen fell ill. It happened in Paris, after another GP win. The whole day off after the competition Sasha spent shopping and had developed a fever at night. When she came back to the US, she flew to Detroit to compete in another Pro Am. Then another one.

Tarasova was strongly against her participation. However, Galina Cohen, convinced that her daughter can win in any condition, insisted that Sasha went. She argued that Sasha could not miss the competition because she was under contract with USFSA.

Cohen lost that competition. And when she reappeared in Hartford, it turned out she had to build herself up from zero. But there wasn’t time, only a few days remained until the Grand Prix Final.

Colorado Springs
Before that competition I flew to Hartford planning to go to from there to Colorado Springs. I could constantly feel the tension between Mrs. Cohen and Tarasova. Galina was obviously flattered that her daughter was the undisputed favorite of such a prestigious competition. Tarasova was the only one present who was not at all certain of Sasha’s success. She believed Sasha wasn’t prepared to win.

That was exactly what happened. In the short program Cohen fell on the triple lutz and ended up behind Japan’s Fumie Suguri. She started her free skate with a lot more confidence but fell twice in the second half, on the triple toe and the flip.

That’s when the split took place, right there in Colorado Springs. On the outside, everything looked very proper. “I am not healthy enough to pay as much attention to Sasha as necessary,” said the coach. “We parted by mutual agreement. Further, I was the one who recommended Wagner and she followed my advice”.

Although Cohen and Tarasova kept telling the press that the decision to part was mutually agreeable, the Colorado Springs conflict was no joke. Many details point to that. The official press release for the World Championships in Dortmund did not contain Tarasova’s name as Cohen’s coach, not even as as a choreographer.

Dortmund

At first blush, the switch to Wagner seemed to benefit Cohen. “Sasha stopped looking overly serious on the ice” said the prominent Russian specialist Marina Kudriavtseva in Dortmund. “She and Wagner simplified the long program and as a result, Sasha’s skating acquired a lightness. Her jumps were improved. Bigger, better quality. Perhaps it was time for all her work with Tarasova to finally show. Tatiana is famous for overloading her students, make them test their limits. But when she let up just a little, decreased the workload, the improvement became obvious. It’s a famous method.”

But Cohen did not manage to win the World title.

Who could have predicted that her former coach would stand in her way to the top of the podium? And with whom? Shizuka Arakawa, who couldn’t even rise above third place at her own National Championships!

After the competition was over, as a smiling Tarasova was telling the press why she took so long to decide to take in Arakawa, mama Cohen stood right there being consoled. She was beside herself.

California

In the beginning of last fall, Cohen announced that she will miss the Grand Prix series because of recurrent back injury. She had not trained for a long time. Three months afterward she left Wagner. The official version: she missed California, her father, friends and former coach. According to this version, Wagner sympathized with her student’s decision.

*Snip*
In light of all the coaching changes in elite skating there was nothing extraordinary in Cohen’s transition from John Nicks to Tarasova, from Tarasova to Wagner and back to Nicks. However, there was a “but”.

The skater’s return to California did not follow logic. Only a year and a half ago Cohen and her mother were saying that the move to Hartford was prompted by the poor training conditions, a tiny and crowded public rink. Her then coach (Nicks) was not at all averse to the idea, he even joked that he will have more time for his favorite pastime, deep sea fishing.

The rink conditions have not improved in a year. Could this mean that Cohen simply didn’t have a choice?




The Untamed Genius

A few days after Cohen announced her return to Nicks, I received a letter from Fairfax. The reporter said that before turning to Nicks, Cohen had asked twice to be coached by Audrey Weisenger (the Fairfax ice rink belongs to her family). The coach refused, saying she was too busy coaching Tim Goeble and Yoshie Onda. But privately she reportedly said: “ Sasha is uncoachable”.

*Here a quote from Robin follows where she calls Sasha complacent. See Hersh’s article. Robin concludes saying that Sasha dislikes being uncomfortable.*

But only 14 months before that while in St. Petersburg with Tarasova for the Grand Prix, Cohen had said: “ I am not inclined to think that talent is the quality that defines the results. May be only 10%. The rest is hard, meticulous work. And not only in practices. I am always thinking of ways to improve, correct my skating. But I like feeling this way.”

I called Tarasova before the US Nationals to ask her opinion of her former student.

“ I feel sorry for her, said the coach. It’s not that I invested so much effort in her. Other coaches had spent a lot more energy. I generally pity any talent in trouble. Sasha has lost herself a little. Now, in my opinion she made the right choice. Nicks is extremely wise and an expert. I have nothing but respect for him since we both brought our respective pairs to the Lake Placid games. I brought Rodnina and Zaitzev and he—Babilonia and Gardner. By the way, I don’t think Sasha turned to Weisenger. She did go to Fairfax, to work on her jumps with one of Audrey’s assistants. But I know this much: whoever Sasha works with in the future, she has to trust that person. Because no athlete can coach themselves, no matter how talented.”

-So are you saying she didn’t trust you?
-Obviously not, since she didn’t’ follow my recommendations.
--Why did you part ways?
--We understood each other really well at times. I loved working with her. Sasha reminds me of a little tiger cub with large paws, you could watch her get stronger. And then she got sick. Once, twice…Interestingly, these illnesses had nothing to do with her training, they usually followed a break in her schedule. Before Christmas Sasha baked cookies all day and all night. The cookies were amazing, twelve different kinds. She brought me a huge, heavy box of them and fifty boxes were shipped to her friends. But the next day she couldn’t train of course. And take those shopping sprees in Paris…

I don’t think that now Sasha would do something like that. But then she was making mistakes. I prefer to avoid unnecessary mistakes. If I told her not to go, then don’t go! Save your energy! Sasha is tiny, and a small body like that cannot be robust, the ice is nearer and it’s easy to fall.

It was her mother who made all the decisions. Perhaps, I didn’t speak to her the right way, didn’t consider the deep internal bond she has with Sasha. We discussed very important things, but we raised our voices. I could not cope with everything that went on. The trip to the competition while sick…The results suffered from that point on.

Before that happened Sasha was skating remarkably, she took on huge workloads. She could skate her long and her short program cleanly twice in one practice. I am lucky, I saw her skate and not fall.

When we parted ways, I used to think that Russian coaches are too demanding of their athletes. But then I found out how things are in Japan for example. The athlete should follow the advice without discussion. It’s a law. That’s how it was with Yagudin, he came to me and said: Do what you want with me, I will listen to everything you say.”

As far as Sasha is concerned, she has to decide how she wants to live her life. She can make money without the sport. Such a unique athlete will find a job in any show. But the thing is, she loves figure skating with all her heart. And she really wants to be an Olympic champion.

--Do you think there’s a coach in the US who could deal with her personality?
--I hope that such a coach is found. But he’d have to devote his whole life to Sasha and not expect any gratitude…

spasibo! very interesting article. i had to laugh when TT mentioned the x-mas cooking baking frenzy and the shopping sprees.... but that's what i love about sasha :)

Thanks for translating! That sounds fair.

Jesus, an ungrateful little brat, who'da thought? Baked cookies all night for her coach and friends... Allowed herself to go on a shopping spree after winning in Paris... Amazing! Well, at least Tatiana didn't call Sasha lazy and narcissistic.

I'm getting happier of a thought of Sasha going back to Mr. Nicks by the minute, at least he understands that coach/student relationship should be business like.

Nice getting back at Galina, TT... NOT!

Working like a man. That sure sounds like Sasha is lazy. :rolleyes:

The only thing I don't get it the ungrateful part. Jeez, Sasha always talked about how Tatiana helped her and how great she was, etc.... I guess after the split maybe Tatiana feels a little snubbed or something.

I found it hard to know how to react to this. I don't think that it's overtly negative and there is definantly culture differences between N. American culture and Russian culture that we don't quite understand. I am glad that she is back with Mr. Nicks though.

I am not surprised TT thinks Sasha's attitude towards her coaches is rude.

In Japan, coaches and teachers are highly respected... when I went there to play piano, I was surprised and even confused at first at how students would often bring gifts and things for their teachers, simply because they wanted to thank them for giving their wise advice. The title Japanese society ("sensei") assigns to teachers/coaches also implies that the Japanese almost thinks of them as being in a class of their own.. It is a law that you don't question what they ask of you; you just do it. I don't know about Russia, but it seems from the way TT talks that it must be similar.

However, as we all know.. in the US we consider coaches/teachers as our employers... we do a favor to hire them in the first place, and when they tell us to do something, we only do it if we want to because we are the ones paying them for their services..

Honestly, I don't blame TT for feeling resentful, since she must be used to more respectful attitudes from her students. However, Shizuka has been going through similar issues that Sasha went through when she was with TT: She got skinnier, sick, and began losing competitions.. If Sasha didn't do what TT said, how come there is a correllation? Maybe it's some strange coincidence.

i am actually kind of conflicted: on one hand i support skater/coach relationships that are personal, but then on the other hand, when they dissolve there are often bitter feelings between the both coach and skater.

i know from experience that relationships btw russian coaches are often more personal and intense. the coach is not only involved in the skating, but also in the personal life of the athelete. i also know that when they dissolve, there are many painful feelings on both sides. i experienced this as a skater before with my old coach and it was a terrible time for both of us.

so when TT or any other former coach says anything, it should probably be taken with a grain of salt. her comments might be valid, but they also could just be the result of her own frusterations with the situation.

however, i don't get mad when i hear biased comments from coaches or skaters because these are the things that make our sport spicy and interesting!

but anyways, what do you guys think about relationships between coaches and skaters? what works better for you? personal/strictly professional/or a combination of both?

I think that Tatiana was speaking honestly. I'm a huge Yagudin fan, and I have watched many interviews with Tatiana and Alexei, and Russians coaches definitely expect a certain amount of respect from their students. Alexei said that he will do whatever she wants. When he flew back to Russia from 98 Worlds, he wanted to sleep because he was beat. She told him only 14 hours straight, and he slept only 14 hours straight. Alexei understood how it works because he's Russian; Sasha is not.

I agree with this article completely. I do not get any negativity from Tatiana at all, she only speaks from her heart. All the while, Tatiana was looking out for Sasha's good. When Sasha (and her mother, too) refused to look after herself, it made Tatiana upset. Tatiana treats all of her skaters as her children, because she has none of her own. She cares for all of them.

And I think that Tatiana understood why Sasha would fall ill, but maybe Sasha did not at first? Tatiana didn't say exactly that it was bad that Sasha was sweet and baked cookies for everyone, but she was saying that because she broke her schedule (regardless of the reason), it would throw her off physically and inadvertently allow herself to get sick. Some people are built like that.

Tatiana has never said anything bad about Sasha. I think that Tatiana was the coach and expected Sasha to be the student. We must remember that Tatiana was born and raised in the Soviet Union; Her father, Anatoly, would make her and her sister Galina do rigorous exercises every morning regardless of the weather (which was usually winter conditions). Obviously, Sasha doesn't come from a strict house-hold and society.

So, my two cents. That's just my humble opinion. :)

And, WinterGirl, I prefer my coaches to be more personal because I am a personal person (lol that sounds weird when you say it LOL) :)

I feel bad for Sasha that all these trash-talk articles from Wagner and TT are coming out, especially during this crucil part of the skating season. TT has a problem relating to others who do not bow down to her commands; but that doesn't mean Sasha is ungrateful or unwilling to improve her own skating abilities. Some of these elite coaches tend to develp a God-complex, especially those who have worked w/ champion skaters from the past. When I read Wagner's complaints about how Sasha didn't follow her so called "plan" to help Sasha start landing her jumps cleanly in competitions, I had to laugh at that cause Robin is no expert in this area. I mean the woman was behind Sarah's horrible jump technique which was cheated (among other things), and Wagner did things like teach Sarah to land her jumps as far away from the judges eyes (in a corner) as possible. So what kind of magical plan could Robin produce for Sasha?

lol, i'm also a personal person :) i can't work with a coach if there is no personal investment. for me a coach is a serious factor in my motivation to train hard. it would be ideal if i could generate all of that motivation and drive myself, but that's just not my personality. i need someone to hug me when i'm upset, but kick my butt when i'm being lazy...i'm just a big baby!

I don't see anything wrong with what TT said except at the end. You can see that she wants her to do well. The article contradicts itself though. In the first part Galina is telling them that Sasha decided she wanted to skate and told them after she had already signed up for lessons. Then Sasha had decided to go with TT and would have gone on her own if the family didn't want to come. Then TT is saying that Galina makes all the decisions. She did admit that maybe she could have done some things differently with Galina and didn't realize how much of a bond they had. She thinks that the move to Nicks is a good one. I do think that TT gave up on Sasha way too soon though. I mean things didn't go right for a month and she bails. She didn't want to deal with the conflicts which is her choice. Sasha wanted to have some fun and go shopping and bake cookies. You can't spend your life in an ice rink.

She said that Sasha needed a coach she could trust and that is John Nicks. Throughout their 6 yrs. together they had lots of conflicts not even speaking to each other at times but unlike TT Nicks never bailed on Sasha. He stood by her even when he disagreed with her. He didn't say a bad word about her when she left. He took her back without reservation. He knows that the "do it my way or else" style doesn't work with her. He let her learn from her mistakes and realize on her own that Nicks may have been right all along. He even admitted that Sasha was right sometimes. He doesn't believe she's uncoachable.

That split was sudden and considering that Nicks and her had their differences but made up all the time she probably thought she and TT would do the same thing. She admitted she was wrong about going to Winter cheesefest. Her being sick wasn't her fault. The fact her mother and TT didn't see eye to eye wasn't her fault either. No wonder she was so stressed out she got shingles.
After an emotional breakup it doesn't surprise me that she had trust issues with Robin or that she had problems getting motivated again.

In the end Sasha went full circle and is back with Mr. Nicks.

It will be interesting to see if any of this kind of stuff is mentioned in Sasha's biography or if she'll ever give more in-depth details and stories after her career is over. After reading this article (and a lot of the speculations about Sasha's mom and their relationships with the coaches etc.) it's amazing to me that she does skate as well as she does! If it was me, the stress would be so great that I wouldn't be able to leave it behind when I got on the ice and I'd probably be tempted to give up skating.