Cohen Resisted Call to Quit Competition

To the end, Sasha Cohen insisted she could have competed in the U.S. figure skating championships.

Even though a stress fracture in her back caused the 16-year-old from Laguna Niguel to fall in practice on a single axel jump--a basic move she hadn’t missed in years--Cohen wanted to skate. Her coach, John Nicks, finally won their battle of titanic wills, and Cohen withdrew Wednesday.

“She resists me on a permanent basis,” said Nicks, whose other star pupil, Naomi Nari Nam of Irvine, withdrew Tuesday because a hip injury cut her preparation time. “One part of my philosophy is to create an athlete who’s independent, not dependent, to create someone who’s courageous and has a determined point of view. I’ve created this monster, and it’s come back to haunt me.”

Nicks spoke affectionately, although he acknowledged their relationship is turbulent.

Cohen, the 2000 silver medalist at the U.S. championships, said Thursday she initially felt something pop in her back last summer and had difficulty performing layback spins. She exacerbated the problem while landing a double axel in practice at the Ice Chalet in Costa Mesa but competed in the Hershey’s pro-am in December.

The injury was diagnosed about a month ago. She disobeyed Nicks’ recommendation to stop jumping and a doctor’s order to stay off the ice and found a doctor who said competing would cause no further damage. She also didn’t tell Nicks the extent of her discomfort.

“The last month or so I was skating one session a day or less,” she said. “I wanted to come here and give it a shot.”

She practiced at the Ice Chalet Tuesday and skated two clean programs. But in the car on her way to the airport for her flight here, she said the back began to hurt and quickly worsened. Nicks said her pain was visible during her lone practice in Boston, when she couldn’t do a complete run-through of her long program. Afterward, Nicks called Cohen’s father, Roger, to say he thought she shouldn’t skate. Nicks repeated that in a meeting with Sasha and her mother, Galina. Sasha disagreed, but ultimately had to give in.

“I told her part of my philosophy is not to lose arguments with 16-year-old young lady skaters on subjects I thought were important,” Nicks said.

Said Cohen: “I was really looking forward to skating this year and nationals and getting a spot on the world team. But it’s most important to heal my back so I can train for next year.

“It’s not that I don’t feel ready. I feel confident. I might be able to skate, but in the process I could maybe hurt it real badly. It’s one competition and it’s not worth risking it.”

Cohen expects she will need three or four weeks to recover before she can resume jumping. “I can be on the ice skating,” she said. “After that I can just try to come back slowly and after that, I should be healed.”

Nicks was philosophical about the withdrawals of Nam, the 1999 silver medalist, and Cohen.

“Naomi was all the rage, of course, for the whole of four minutes,” he said dryly. “Both young ladies are very talented and very special people, very unique. I have confidence that long-term, their skating careers will be very successful.”