How Sasha Bounced Back

Recovers From Early Fall, Stumble To Capture Figure Skating Silver

(CBS)  She downplayed any possible injuries, telling Harry, "I definitely was dealing with some different injuries and it made it a little tougher to train, but, you know it happens in sports, being an athlete. It's nothing new. And, you know, it was really important for me to be here. I persevered through a lot of tough times and training for them, but it was still great to be able to come out and have some great times out there."

Her performance impressed Olympic figure skating champion Brian Boitano and two-time Olympic figure skating gold medalist Katarina Witt, who told Harry, "It was heartbreaking for me to watch her falling twice in the beginning, and then I really felt then she got so upset about herself that now she saw probably, 'I have to nail the rest.'"

Boitano concurred, saying, "I think that where she came into play, where the aggressiveness came into play after those two jumps, she said, 'I'm not gonna to miss anymore.' She really needed to start the program with that kind of energy."

But he and Witt felt Cohen's warm-up left much to be desired, and that carried into the real thing.

"After she fell the second time," Witt said, "I had my head in my hands thinking, 'Oh, my God, I hope she does the rest. And she really did. Then you just keep shaking your head because you think, 'Oh, my God, you can see the potential she has and the quality of her jumps, (which) are beautiful.' Her skating was breathtaking, and then it's even more sad that she has those two falls in the beginning, and then being able to pull it together like she did, that was incredible."

Boitano observed, "It's hard to recoup from that (the poor start). It's hard to go on. She really pulled it together and started fighting for the rest of the program."


Editor's notes: Witt has a new book out called "Only With Passion." To read an excerpt, click here.

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Boitano started a "Youth Skate Program" in 1998 to introduce inner-city kids to ice skating as what his Web site calls "a safe, fun and challenging after-school activity." The site says more than 3,000 youngsters have taken part. For more on the program, click here.