Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin TURIN, ITALY - (L-R) Sasha Cohen of the United States, silver medal; Shizuka Arakawa of Japan, gold medal; and Irina Slutskaya of Russia, bronze medal, on the podium after performing in the women's Free Skate at the Turin 2006 Winter Olympic Games, February 23, 2006, Italy. (Photo by Vladimir Rys/Bongarts/Getty Images) Believe it or not, it's been 18 long years since an American individual ladies figure skater has stood on the Olympic podium. The last was Sasha Cohen, at the Torino Winter Olympics in 2006, where she won the silver medal.
Given America's prior dominance in ladies figure skating - Peggy Fleming, Dorothy Hamill, Kristi Yamaguchi, Tara Lipinski, Sarah Hughes, Nancy Kerrigan and Michelle Kwan, to name a few - the omission is hard to understand. Cohen is about to turn 40 this month. A graduate of Columbia University with a BA in general studies, and working now for a major investment house while raising two young children - Dash and Paloma - she maintains a very different lifestyle from her intense athletic regimen two decades ago.
We thought it would be interesting to drop in on her to get some perspective on her current life, and on the American ladies figure skating program in general. Following are edited excerpts from a longer conversation. Jim Clash: You are the last individual American ladies skater to stand on the Olympic podium, and that was way back in 2006.
Surprising? Sasha Cohen: It's definitely surp.