Sasha Cohen (USA) withdraws from Skate
America this week, putting her season in
serious doubt.
Photo: David W. Carmichael

It's sounding like an Olympic year when Emily Hughes has to play the role of replacement for an injured skater.  Hughes, who replaced Michelle Kwan four years ago on the Olympic team in Torino, will be stepping in to take the place of Sasha Cohen at this week's Skate America.

The announcement, though not completely unexpected, is a disappointment for Cohen fans.  She had already withdrawn this season from her first Grand Prix assignment, Trophee Eric Bompard in Paris.  Her withdrawal today certainly raises a number of questions about her readiness for the U.S. Nationals in January.

Still battling an injury, Cohen said, "After meeting with my orthopedic surgeon, it was determined that in order for me to fully recover, I should not compete this week.”  Her goal is still to continue training and rehabilitating her injury in order to compete at Nationals.  But without either Grand Prix, she will be going in with a extreme lack of actual competition time. 

Still, she can look to the success of her fellow comeback skaters in their first competitions this season.  Evgeni Plushenko, Stephane Lambiel, and Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao all won their respective comeback events, though none of them were skating immediately following a nagging injury.  Needless to say, Cohen's season just got a little more interesting.