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Sasha Cohen The Favorite To Win The Women Skating Gold Medal

John Nicks: "If she skates the same, she'll be very difficult to beat”

American Sasha Cohen is considered the favorite to win the gold medal tonight, at women's figure skating final and to outrival Russia's Irina Slutskaya and Japan's Shizuka Arakawa.

Cohen, 21, will be the second skater in the final group of six, ahead of Slutskaya, who is only three hundredths of a point behind Cohen, and Arakawa, who is 71 hundredths of a points behind, performing to music from the film "Romeo and Juliet".

"If she skates the same (tonight)," said her coach, John Nicks, "she'll be very difficult to beat."

However, Cohen skipped her Wednesday practice, telling her coach that she's feeling too tired after the competition. Her absence worried the media, which feared that she might be injured.

"She has occasional muscle problems and uses a lot of ice,'' her coach, John Nicks, told the Associated Press. "There is nothing untoward. She has a few aches, a few pains, as we all do when we get older.''

Cohen competed at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, finishing fourth. Her best season was 2003-04, when she took gold at three Grand Prix events and silver at both the U.S. National Championships and the World Championships.

She withdrew from 2004 Grand Prix events due to a recurring back injury, but returned to place second at 2005 US Nationals in Portland, Oregon, and World Figure Skating Championships in Moscow, Russia.

Sasha started her Olympic season by placing first at the Campbell's International Figure Skating Challenge. Soon after, she withdrew from Skate America because of a hip injury. She came back strong with a second place finish at Trophee Eric Bompard.