Cohen Returns to California Roots

Sasha Cohen left Southern California in the summer of 2002 to refine her talent and win a world figure skating title. Her dream remains elusive, even though she studied with Tatiana Tarasova and Robin Wagner, who coached Salt Lake City Olympic champions Alexei Yagudin and Sarah Hughes, respectively.

Still intent on standing atop the podium but pining for her old life in Laguna Niguel, Cohen has returned to Orange County and coach John Nicks, who launched her toward international prominence.

U.S. Figure Skating officials said Wednesday that Cohen would collaborate with Nicks through next month’s U.S. championships in Portland, Ore. Her year-long association with Wagner was highlighted by a silver medal at the 2004 world championships, but Wagner said a slow start this season had made the 20-year-old restless.

Cohen finished third in two U.S. Figure Skating-sponsored events and withdrew from the Grand Prix series because of a back injury.

“Essentially, she said she very much missed home,” Wagner said in a phone interview. “Her father had been spending a lot of time in California, and she was just homesick and wasn’t as happy on the East Coast as she was in sunny Southern California.

“When Sasha came to me a year ago, we had our conversation and I told her what I thought it took for her to be a champion: athletic ability and the willingness to challenge your body and your mind. In the first few months she showed that and she was anxious to get going this season, but her summer and fall training were very inconsistent and the results were not as successful as we had hoped....

“No athlete can train if she’s not happy in her environment. If California is where she’s happiest and can train her best, that’s where she should be.”

Cohen said on her website that working with Nicks again was “almost like I never left.”

Nicks has coached former U.S. pairs champions Jenni Meno and Todd Sand as well as 1979 world pairs champions Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner. When Cohen left him two years ago, she said crowded conditions at the Aliso Viejo rink where he teaches had held her back.

“It is an exciting time for me to be working with Sasha again,” Nicks said in a statement. “I think it is great that she has returned to her roots, home and friends. I look forward to helping Sasha prepare for U.S. nationals, and I anticipate much success.”