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And then there were two Sasha Cohen withdraws from U.S. C'ships with back injury
BOSTON (AP) -- Sasha Cohen, who nearly upset Michelle Kwan last year, withdrew from the U.S. Figure Skating Championships on Wednesday night with a back injury. Her withdrawal leaves Kwan and Sarah Hughes without any true threats for the title. A doctor told the 16-year-old Cohen that she couldn't jump for a month after discovering a stress fracture in her lower back. But she went to a second doctor last week, who told her she could train and compete without risking further damage. Though her coach, John Nicks, was leery of letting her skate, he brought her to nationals when she insisted on going. But Nicks said he'd see how she did in practice before deciding if he'd let her compete. She didn't skate in her morning practice Wednesday, and her afternoon session didn't go as well as Nicks hoped. The women's short program is Friday. "Practice went so-so," Nicks said before he met with Cohen's mother to discuss the possibility of withdrawing. Doctors think the fracture is the result of a growth spurt in which Cohen has grown 3 inches the past year; she's now 5-foot-11/2. Cohen stunned Kwan last year, winning the short program when Kwan fell on a jump. She wasn't as strong in the free skate, allowing Kwan to pass her and win her fourth U.S. title. Cohen's training partner, Naomi Nari Nam, also withdrew from nationals with a stress fracture in her hip that kept her off the ice for eight weeks last year. She'd only been on the ice for a month, and Nicks decided that wasn't enough time to train for nationals.
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