Sasha Cohen officially withdrew from the 2007 U.S. National Championships and insists that she will be ready for the 2009 competitive season (which I guess means she is also skipping the 2008 season). I know a lot of skating fans are disappointed, but really this is no surprise. Cohen has said all along that she is skipping the 2007 and 2008 seasons to take a break from skating – that’s her official word. But what she isn’t saying is that she wants to focus on her budding acting career.
Cohen is deluding herself if she thinks she will be “ready” for the 2009 competitive season. When young rising stars like Kimmie Meissner, Mao Asada and other Japanese skaters are routinely performing triple axels, three-jump combinations, and triple-triple combinations, Cohen has failed to show me that she is capable of performing a single triple jump without falling on her a** during her free skate program. Does she honestly believe that she will be able to compete with the likes of Meissner and Asada? Don’t get me wrong. Cohen is a beautiful skater, and she obviously loves to perform and entertain. But when it comes to competing, she lacks the mental toughness and desire to withstand the pressures of rising to the highest level on the world stage. She can have all the talent in the world, but without mental and emotional toughness, I doubt she will ever be a world champion.
In other skating news, Cleveland may have lost out to Los Angeles for the 2009 World Figure Skating Championships, but the city got a door prize instead – the 2009 U.S. National Championships, according to the U.S. Figure Skating Association.
No comments:
Post a Comment