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Read other letters about this article
King wrote in today's column
"American Sasha Cohen is being praised in some quarters for battling back, for recovering from her two early mishaps to skate beautifully the rest of the way and win a silver medal. Well, of course she skated beautifully. The pressure was off."
While most of King's analysis was on-target, I believe this is not. Cohen should be praised for battling back and persevering. She likely knew the chance at a gold medal was gone after her first fall, and after the next slip, the odds for any medal at all could have been in doubt. But the pressure was definitely not off. Battling injury and nerves, she could have chucked the rest of her program, lost focus and simply skated through the motions. That she did not do so is testament to the character and courage she displayed on the biggest stage in international sport.
