FIGURE SKATING Cohen takes day off from work

Everybody but the leader went through a workout before today's finals.
TURIN, Italy (AP) -- All the Olympic medal contenders in women's figure skating practiced on Wednesday. All except Sasha Cohen, who leads the pack going for gold.
A sign of nerves? Injury? Or simply the confidence of a champion in waiting?
"I talked to her this morning," coach John Nicks said, "and she was tired and she agreed to rest today and come in tomorrow for a short practice. She has trained very hard; stamina is not a problem.
"She has occasional muscle problems and uses a lot of ice," he added, referring to questions about a possible groin injury for Cohen, who wore an ice pack and whose right leg was wrapped after Tuesday's short program. "There is nothing untoward. She has a few aches, a few pains, as we all do when we get older."
Cohen is all of 21.
Tendency to tighten up
What Cohen does have is a tendency to tighten up in the most stressful skating situations. Nothing could be more pressure-packed than what she'll face in tonight's finale -- the task of winning the United States' third straight women's gold.
Cohen claims she's an entirely different skater -- more mature, more relaxed -- something she'll get every chance to prove in her long program.
"It's definitely going to be tough for everyone to do great longs with all of the pressure," Cohen said after Tuesday's night's victory. "I'm going to believe in myself and expect the best."
Cohen is ahead by the slimmest of margins, .03 points over Russia's Irina Slutskaya and .71 over Japan's Shizuka Arakawa. And Cohen's history when she's in such a position has been spotty.
She owns two world championship silver medals, one behind Arakawa in 2004 and the other behind Slutskaya last year. Until Michelle Kwan wasn't healthy enough to skate in the U.S. nationals in January, Cohen had never won the American title, finishing second four times.
At the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, she was third after the short program before a mediocre free skate dropped her off the medals podium.
In 2005, Cohen was within three points of Slutskaya after the short program, but some sloppy jumps and an off-balance landing on a triple flip cost her. The previous season, she had shaky landings on her opening jumps in the free skate, including two-footing a triple salchow.
Led before early
She led after the U.S. short program in 2004, then faded in the free skate and Kwan passed her. The previous year was worse, with Cohen doing only five clean triple jumps and falling once in the free skate to drop to third behind Kwan and an inconsistent Sarah Hughes.
Cohen was an immediate sensation in 2000, her first senior season, winning the short program at nationals. But she fell on a triple toe loop -- the easiest triple jump -- in the free skate to wind up second as a 15-year-old.
But maybe those past disappointments -- or, more precisely, her solid but not great achievements -- have hardened Cohen to the point of fearlessness.
"It's not always about being the most talented, it's about sticking it out," she said Tuesday. "This sport rewards the tough people."