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Sasha Cohen performs during the free skate portion of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Cohen won her first U.S. crown on Saturday, beating Kimmie Meissner. Both skaters will represent the U.S. at the Winter Olympics.

updated 12:46 a.m. ET Jan. 15, 2006

ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Sasha Cohen stood in the middle of the ice long after her program ended, her eyes wide as she drank in the applause. Then she dropped into a deep curtsy, bowing to all four sides of the arena.

After all these years of waiting, she’s finally a champion. And she was going to savor every minute of it.

Cohen proved herself a worthy successor to Michelle Kwan, winning her first title at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in a rout Saturday night. Kwan missed the event because of a hip injury. She was later granted a spot on the U.S. roster.

“I’ve got a lot of silvers in different shoeboxes in storage units all over the place. But I think the gold one will have a special place,” said Cohen, who couldn’t take her eyes off the medal during the awards ceremony said.

She finished with 199.18 points, more than 28 points ahead of second place Kimmie Meissner. Emily Hughes, little sister of 2002 Olympic champion Sarah, was third — but it left her at the podium in St. Louis because of Kwan’s spot on the roster.

Kwan missed nationals with a groin injury, but she’s a nine-time U.S. and five-time world champion and the face of figure skating for the last decade. Hughes’ best finish is a bronze at the junior world championships last year.

“I think there is a lot of pressure. It is an Olympic year and my second time at nationals,” Hughes said. “I thought this was a great experience for me for the future.”

Cohen had had more than enough of experiences that build character for the future.

She’s a breathtaking mix of athleticism, grace and beauty. But she didn’t have the psyche to match, finishing second twice at the world championships and four times — all to Kwan — at nationals. At the 2002 Olympics, she was third after the short program but dropped to fourth overall.

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Trying to find some solution, Cohen left longtime coach John Nicks and her Southern California home for the East Coast in 2002, training first with Tatiana Tarasova and then Robin Wagner. But the change in scenery didn’t change her results.

It wasn’t until she returned home in December 2004 and reunited with Nicks that Cohen discovered she’d had what she needed all along right inside of her. She began focusing more on her training and performance than the final placement, and the difference is plain to see.

Though she missed three days of practice after coming down with the flu last weekend and was clearly exhausted at the end of her 4-minute program to “Romeo and Juliet,” Cohen was a pure delight Saturday night.

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“I have not done this version in competition and I haven’t done this run-through since last Friday,” Cohen said. “It’s been eight days so I said, ‘OK, let’s see what happens.”’

She did seven triples, two in combination. But it’s her presentation that sets her apart. She doesn’t skate so much as float, and her expressions told of all the pain and heartache that Juliet felt.