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Sasha Cohen wins second World silver
By Lindsay DeWall // U.S. Figure Skating // March 19, 2005
Moscow, Russia (March 19, 2005) – Sasha Cohen won the silver medal at the 2005 World Figure Skating Championships Saturday in Moscow, Russia, defending the silver she won at the 2004 event. Michelle Kwan finished fourth, just 0.37 points away from the bronze medal. Cohen’s silver was the third medal won by the U.S. Team this week, marking the first year for three U.S. medals since the 2002 World Championships.
Cohen performed a strong free skate to the “Nutcracker.” She started out by nailing a triple-double combination followed by a triple-double-double and triple loop before flailing her arms on the landing of her triple flip. Her next combination, a triple-triple, sent her stumbling out of the second landing, though she did stay vertical. Overall her performance was strong, and put her solidly in second place.
“I have a lot of silver medals, but I was happy with my skating today,” Cohen said. “It’s a new system; there are a lot of great skaters. Last year’s World champion wasn’t even on the podium. It’s great to be up there among so many strong skaters.”
Kwan’s performance was much improved from her qualifying round skate on Wednesday, but a fall on her triple Salchow and two-footed landing on her triple Lutz cost her a medal. She did cleanly land a triple-double-double, two triple-doubles and a triple flip.
“I definitely wanted to skate better than I did in the qualifying round,” Kwan said. “I went out there, enjoyed myself, took my time and just made two mistakes. You know, what can I say? I’ll go home and just work harder.”
She added: “The skating – not as well as I wanted it to be. I’m kind of disappointed, but I guess there’s another chance, another year, another opportunity.”
Jennifer Kirk also had a much stronger free skate Saturday than in her qualifying round. She looked more comfortable on the ice and landed four triples. She fell on her triple loop and singled her planned triple Salchow. She says she is looking forward to the upcoming Olympic year.
“Definitely next year is very important, and I'm happy that my performances were able to get better (this week),” Kirk said. “I'm not saying I felt good, but I’ll just have to keep working.”
The ladies final concluded the weeklong 2005 World Figure Skating Championships.
Highlights and Magnitude:
- The U.S. Team won three medals for the first time since 2002. The 2005 medalists:
o Evan Lysacek, men’s bronze
o Tanith Belbin & Ben Agosto, ice dancing silver
o Sasha Cohen, ladies silver
- Belbin and Agosto won the first U.S. dance medal at a World Championships in 20 years. It was the first silver in 30 years.
- The U.S. Team secured three Olympic spots in three of the four disciplines: ladies, men’s and dance. Pairs will have two U.S. teams.
- The 2006 U.S. Figure Skating Olympic Team will be the largest since 1992, with both years sending 16 athletes.
- The last year the U.S. sent three ice dancing teams to the Olympics was 1984.
STANDINGS (Top five and/or U.S. finishers)
NAME - CTRY - POINTS
1. Irina Slutskaya - RUS - 222.71
2. Sasha Cohen USA - 214.39
3. Carolina Kostner - ITA - 200.56
4. Michelle Kwan - USA - 200.19
5. Fumie Suguri - JPN - 196.01
17. Jennifer Kirk - USA - 156.81
QUOTES
SASHA COHEN
On performance: “I was really happy today. I stayed on my feet and tried really hard, and I’m really proud of my effort.”
On competing in Russia: “I can speak broken Russian. People understand me; I can understand. I can definitely get by. It’s nice to be able to understand the language, the culture. It’s where my mom and my grandparents are from. I think that one of the other special things is that the people really appreciate skating in Russia.”
On second straight silver at World Championships: “I have a lot of silver medals, but I was happy with my skating today. It’s a new system, there are a lot of great skaters, last year’s World champion wasn’t even on the podium. It’s great to be up there among so many strong skaters.”
MICHELLE KWAN
On performance: “The skating – not as well as I wanted it to be. I’m kind of disappointed, but I guess there’s another chance, another year, another opportunity.”
On performance: “I definitely wanted to skate better than I did in the qualifying round. I went out there, enjoyed myself, took my time and just made two mistakes. You know, what can I say? I’ll go home and just work harder.”
On not skating in the Grand Prix under the new judging system: “The one thing I’ve learned to do is not to regret. I’ve analyzed the system and it could have been worse if I was in the Grand Prix Series and was tired and was spread too thin.”
JENNIFER KIRK
On performance: “Definitely next year is very important and I'm happy that my performances were able to get better. I'm not saying I felt good, but I’ll just have to keep working.”
On Worlds: “Worlds is different from any other competition, like nationals is different from any competition. You feel that extra pressure you put on yourself, and there are all the best skaters here.”
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