Turin – U.S. figure skater Sasha Cohen, leading heading into today’s free skate program, fell on her first two jumps, and landed with a silver medal in the 2006 Winter Olympics.
Skating right after Cohen, Japan’s Shizuka Arakawa skated a beautiful – and clean – program, to score 125.32 points and win the gold medal. Russia’s Irina Slutskaya also took a tumble in the middle of her program and finished with the bronze, falling short of completing a Russian gold medal sweep of the figure skating events.
Cohen attempted a triple lutz on her first jump and ended up sitting on the ice. She then stumbled on her second pass before settling into her program and landing five triple jumps, scoring 116.63 points.
“I was very disappointed in my skate,” Cohen said. “I definitely gave 100 percent of my effort. I gave it my all, so I have no regrets from that. It just wasn’t my night.”
She was surprised she was able to hang on to the silver medal.
“I’m really excited. I think it was a gift. I’m very pleased,” she said.
Sixteen-year-old Kimmie Meissner skated well in her first Olympic spotlight. She was shaky on her early jumps, but then kept improving. Her program earned 106.31 points and a sixth place.
“It wasn’t one of my best performances, but it’s pretty good for being my first Olympics,” she said. “This experience tonight definitely inspires me for the next Olympics in 2010. Hard work will eventually pay off.”
Emily Hughes, sister of 2002 gold medalist Sarah Hughes, finished seventh. She started strong, but fell in the middle of her program.
“The first minute was going really well,” she said. “After the fall I thought I’d just go for it. I thought, ‘this is the Olympics, a once in a lifetime experience, so I thought I’d go for it.”
