#TB to Sasha Cohen, a Ballerina on the Ice

There are plenty of current Olympic figure skaters who’d make beautiful dancers (first among them Adam Rippon, whose gorgeously choreographed long program won the internet, if not the gold). But today, as we wait for the women’s figure skating competition to crown its new champions, we wanted to throw it back to one of the most beautifully balletic skaters of all time: Sasha Cohen.

The whole world fell in love with Cohen at the 2002 Salt Lake and 2006 Turin Olympics. (She won silver at the latter.) Her skating was technically impressive, of course, but what we personally couldn’t get enough of were her LINES. She threw off 6-o’-clock penchée spirals like they were nothing, landed even the craziest triple jumps with her back perfectly upright, and topped it all off with expressive, supported-from-the-back port de bras. She looked like she would’ve been right at home in a pair of pointe shoes.

Cohen’s mother was a ballet dancer, which explains some of her natural ability. And possibly some of her music choices—here she is performing to a montage from Swan Lake:

Happy #TBT!