No Skate America for Cohen

By Helene Elliott

Oct. 20, 2004 12 AM PT

Sasha Cohen, world figure skating silver medalist, withdrew Tuesday from the Skate America competition this weekend in Pittsburgh because of a recurring back injury.

The former Laguna Niguel resident released a statement through U.S. Figure Skating, saying that an orthopedic surgeon determined she had a back strain, possibly related to a lower-back problem that kept her out of the 2001 U.S. championships.

Cohen, who will be 20 next week, said she was “saddened” over her inability to defend her title at Skate America, which begins Thursday.

Michelle Kwan, the eight-time U.S. champion and five-time world champion, had announced last week that she would not compete at the season’s first Grand Prix event. Kwan has also had recent back problems.

Cohen won’t be replaced in the Skate America field.

Angela Nikodinov of San Pedro and Alissa Czisny of Bowling Green, Ohio, will be the American entrants in the women’s event.

Olympics

Helene Elliott

Helene Elliott was with the Los Angeles Times’ Sports department from 1989 to 2024, first as a staff writer and then, starting in 2006, as a columnist. She became the first female journalist to be honored with a plaque in the Hall of Fame of a major professional sport as the 2005 winner of the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Elmer Ferguson Award, awarded to writers “who have brought honor to journalism and to hockey.” A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., and graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, she has covered 18 Olympics.

No Skate America for Cohen

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