Cohen focuses attention on quad

With an Olympic berth in hand, the Laguna Niguel teen
wants to do the difficult move.

January 13, 2002

Los Angeles -- The quad is back on the table for Salt
Lake City. A spot on the U.S. Olympic team secure,
Sasha Cohen will once again turn her attention to
becoming the first woman to land a quadruple jump in
competition. Cohen said she wants to attempt a
quadruple Salchow at the Olympic Games. "As far as now
I plan to do it," Cohen, 17, from Laguna Niguel said
after finishing second in the U.S. Figure Skating
Championships at Staples Center on Saturday night.
"Apparently I've received my instructions," cracked
John Nicks, Cohen's coach who has frequently clashed
with the skater over the quad. The pair had a series
of "extremely animated debates" over whether Cohen
should try the jump at the U.S. Championships. "We had
two missions this year," Nicks said. "One was to make
the Olympic team. That was my mission. Hers was to be
the first woman to land the quad." Eventually Nicks
prevailed. A ticket to Salt Lake now in Cohen's
possession, Nicks is now more receptive to the idea.

TORCH TIME

Cohen will carry the Olympic torch Monday evening in
San Diego.

CLOSE CALL

Cohen and Michelle Kwan had a near collision during
warm-ups Saturday night. A collision could have been
disastrous and appeared to throw Kwan off stride
briefly. "I had to really regroup and get myself
together," said Kwan, who went on to win her fifth
consecutive U.S. title, her sixth overall.

FOURTH QUALIFIES

In the "only in figure skating" department, Peter
Tchernyshev and Naomi Lang won their fourth
consecutive U.S. ice dancing title and will be joined
in Salt Lake City by fourth-place finishers Beata
Handra and Charles Sinek. That's right, fourth-place
finishers. Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto finished
second Saturday afternoon. But Belbin is Canadian and
does not have dual citizenship. Third-place finishers
Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov also are not
eligible for the United States' second and final
Olympic spot because Petukhov is a Russian citizen.