The Fall of Sasha Cohen Leaves NBC With a Chilling Olympic Skating Field

I was rooting for Sasha Cohen to make it to Vancouver. I know her name, and I know she’s gorgeous. I know NBC executives were probably hoping that she would bring that name recognition and aesthetic allure to an Olympics that will lose a staggering amount of money no matter what, drawing scads of viewers like me who have known and liked her for the better part of a decade. But it was, like much of Cohen’s career, a dream both so close and so far away.Cohen flamed out with a disastrous free skate at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships Saturday night. She fell, she crossed her skates, and she derailed her dream with the errors that have haunted her in major competitions, then saw it fully dashed by the brilliant performances of high schoolers Rachael Flatt and Mirai Nagasu.

Those two, less graceful than the balletic Cohen and less beautiful than “cute,” in Cohen’s words, will be podium contenders in Vancouver and threats to South Korea’s Yu-Na Kim and Japan’s Mao Asada. Sasha -- not Cohen, but Sasha, who could have claimed her place as a one-name skater -- would have been a draw. NBC can only hope to spin the story of the youngsters half as well as the return of the best-known name would have played without much narrative polish.

At least Turin silver medalists and sweethearts Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto made it through in ice dancing. They placed second in ice dancing, nearly a full four points behind Meryl Davis and Charlie White, who will bring a little less sex appeal, the world’s number one ranking, and a version of “Billie Jean” done by David Cook to the putative favorites’ role in Vancouver.

NBC will bring rabbits’ feet, a half-dozen packages on Belbin/Agosto, and maybe a yearbook or five for Flatt and Nagasu. The vials of tears shed after Cohen’s collapse will probably be stay at home. The Peacock Network must hope that viewers do the same and choose to fall in love with new skating stars rather than rekindling longstanding romances.

↵