The Ice Storm

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When she finished fourth at the 2002 Games, Cohen, who had skated her whole life at a rink near her home in Laguna Niguel, Calif., knew that something had to change. "That was a traumatic time for me," she said. "I was frustrated that I wasn't getting the level of training that I needed." She decided she was missing the Olympic-caliber coaching and skating facilities of the East Coast, so she and her family moved to considerably chillier Connecticut, where she joined the powerhouse skating team of Tatiana Tarasova, who has coached eight Olympic champions. There Cohen was forced to adopt a strict regimen of endurance and strength training to build up her core for whipping off jumps. The result: she had her best season, winning three international competitions. The 56-year-old Tarasova's health began to decline, however, and so did her relationship with Cohen, who was starting to chafe under the rigors of the harsh training.

Just before the 2004 national championships, Cohen made another abrupt change, leaving Tarasova, who moved back to Russia, for Robin Wagner, who had coached Sarah Hughes to Olympic gold. Wagner supplemented Tarasova's physical training with the emotional support that Cohen was missing. But by the end of that season, the old demons had re-emerged. Cohen finished second to Kwan for the third time at the nationals and was forced to miss several competitions because of a recurring back injury. When she returned to the ice, her confidence was shot. "At that point," she said, "I needed to take control of my skating." She packed her bags again, returning to Southern California and her first coach, John Nicks.

If the sojourn to the East had taught Cohen anything, it was that only she could make herself a winner. "I was always looking for a coach to make me a champion," she said. "But ultimately you have to make it happen." Cohen and Nicks now have more of a collaboration than a coach-student relationship. To toughen her psyche against the crushing pressures of competition, Cohen devours self-help books and inspirational stories of champion athletes. (She recently finished Lance Armstrong's bio.) "Mentally, I'm more prepared," she said. "Physically, I'm stronger. I used to do my long program once and my legs were wiped, but now I practice it over and over."

Cohen's teammate Meissner has been blissfully oblivious to the Olympic gauntlet. At a pre-Olympic summit last fall, Meissner trailed Cohen like a puppy and watched in awe as Cohen deftly defused question after question from reporters about not skating up to her potential and always competing in Kwan's shadow. It was a crash course for the teenager in accepting the baggage that comes with being an Olympic-caliber skater. Even if Meissner is not as polished as Cohen or Kwan--"Sometimes I can't believe the dumb things I say"--her candor makes her a refreshing addition to the women's squad.