Figure Skating

SPOKANE, WASH. - When it was all over, Sasha Cohen didn't have any regrets.

Her attempted comeback from show performer to Olympian went awry with a series of mistakes during her long program Saturday night at the U.S. figure skating championships, taking the crowd favourite out of the mix and passing the torch to 17-year-old Rachael Flatt and 16-year-old Mirai Nagasu, both of whom will represent the United States in Vancouver.

"I wanted to just enjoy skating," Cohen said. "I wasn't able to skate what I wanted to skate, what I'd trained, but I still really appreciate this part of my career, the challenge I embraced and all the obstacles overcome to be here. That was really special for me."

It was also special for Flatt, a favourite coming into the night who lived up to her reputation as the most consistent female American skater. After capturing the silver in 2008 (behind Nagasu) and in 2009, the former world junior champion skated a clean program that included seven triple jumps.

While Flatt, who was fifth at the worlds last year, won't be among the favourites next month at the Olympics, she is one of only two skaters to defeat world champion Kim Yu-Na this season when she won the free skate at Skate America.

Flatt's overall score of 200.11 points set a record, erasing the previous mark of 199.18 set by Cohen.

"It was a great program," Flatt said. "I was very excited with how things went. I finally competed with how I've been training and I built throughout."

The air of suspense had been building when Cohen stepped on the ice, the third last skater ahead of Flatt and Nagasu. But the audience at the Spokane Arena was quickly deflated when Cohen stepped out of her landing on a double toe-loop early in her program, had a two-foot landing on a triple-loop and then fell on a triple flip. At the end of her program, the crowd stayed seated and politely applauded what could be the final competitive performance for the silver medalist at the Turin Olympics.

Cohen was attempting a comeback that began last May but was hampered during the fall by a series of injuries and poor practice performances that caused her to miss the competitive season until the U.S. nationals.

She maintained all this week that her comeback was not solely about getting to the Olympics, but rather the chance to compete for the first time since the 2006 world championships. She stayed true to that when it was all over.

"Watching [Flatt and Nagasu], I was just so proud of them," Cohen said. "There isn't any regret or wishing I could do it again. I was just really proud and [it was] special to be back after four years and be with this new field of girls and really proud of what this year has brought me."

Cohen stopped short, however, of saying this was her final go at competitive skating.

"The only thing I know for sure is that everything always changes," she said. "So one day at a time."

Cohen entered Saturday night's long program with her eye on a trip to Vancouver, sitting in second place after the short, with less than a point separating first-place Nagasu and third-place Flatt.

Nagasu wasn't perfect, receiving downgrades on three of her jumps to score 188.78, but was pleased enough that she put her hands on the sides of her face when she completed her final move and then pumped her fists in the air.

Cohen finished fourth overall behind Flatt, Nagasu and Ashley Wagner, who was third.

Both American women headed to Vancouver are considered long shots to preserve the U.S. women's string of medals at every Olympic Games since 1964.

"It's possible," said Scott Hamilton, the 1980 U.S. gold medalist. "You saw a lot of unexpected things here. Rachael was fifth in her first world championship. I don't know who has ever debuted that high, ever. So there's always a chance. American women have always been well represented at the world level and I think they're going to be well represented [in Vancouver] too. A lot of things can happen."