Cohen eyeing 2010 ... if body permits

There was one more bit of medicine she had to swallow, her scores from judges in the long program. They weren’t so terrible --  116.63 for her long program, 183.36 total. Generous, by any measure.

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At the time, Cohen figured that wouldn’t be enough for a medal. Cohen went backstage, changed out of her costume. She hardly watched the others who came after. Then she heard she’d clinched bronze, heard she’d clinched silver.

That was nice, she said to herself. It would have been nicer to skate her best last night, to silence critics who still don’t believe she can produce the best long programs at the right times.

“I’ve done definitely more good shorts than longs,” she admitted. “I’ve definitely done good longs, not in places and times than I’d have liked to. I’m a stronger athlete than that.”

It hadn’t been the best of skating nights for the women, an evening of step-outs and tumbles by practically everyone. It wasn’t Salt Lake City, when Hughes skated with confident abandon. It certainly wasn’t Nagano, when Kwan and Lipinski went at it, with two near-perfect programs.

The Olympics never seem to work out quite right lately for the great ones, such as Cohen and Kwan and Irina Slutskaya. Slutskaya has herself a silver and a bronze, same as Kwan. Cohen has a silver and a fourth-place finish in Salt Lake City.

“Ultimately, it’s four minutes of one day in my life,” Sasha said, of her long program. “I’ve had such an incredible journey.”

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Maybe she squeezes out a couple more years, wins a first world championship and a second national title before Meissner catches her. Maybe Cohen says goodbye soon and hits those struggling ice shows, which weren’t helped one bit by a Japanese gold medal.

They can’t all win gold at the Olympics. Eventually, they can’t all keep trying.