Figure Skating in Harlem celebrates with skating stars past and present

More photos from the 2012 Figure Skating in Harlem Skating with the Stars gala held in NYC, April 2, 2012...

Dee Snider from Celebrity Apprentice with pairs teams Caydee Denney/John Coughlin and Mary Beth Marley/Rockne Brubaker, Photo Credit: Greg Partanio/ManhattanSociety.com:

Figure Skating in Harlem founder Sharon Cohen with Sarah Hughes and Paul Wylie, Photo Credit: Greg Partanio/ManhattanSociety.com:

Joannie Rochette, Todd Eldredge, Nicole Bobek, Scott Hamilton, Timothy Goebel and Tanith Belbin, Photo Credit: Greg Partanio/ManhattanSociety.com:

Ice dancers Maia and Alex Shibutani with young fan, Photo Credit: Greg Partanio/ManhattanSociety.com:

Tanith Belbin looking cool and gorgeous as ever, Photo Credit: Greg Partanio/ManhattanSociety.com:

Vera Wang, Evan Lysacek, Diana Ross celebrate Figure Skating in Harlem

DIANA ROSS, VERA WANG, AND DONALD TRUMP JOIN OLYMPIC CHAMPIONS TO CELEBRATE FIGURE SKATING IN HARLEM’S 15TH ANNIVERSARY
---------2012 Skating with the Stars Gala raises approximately $700K to support innovative educational and fitness programs---------
 
(April 2012) -- Figure Skating in Harlem (http://www.figureskatinginharlem.org) announced that its Skating with the Stars 2012 gala honoring international fashion designer Vera Wang and dynamic Figure Skating in Harlem patron Ellen Lowey is expected to raise approximately $700,000. Harlem artist and entrepreneur Rhonda Ross, accompanied by her mother, the legendary Diana Ross, received the Star Leadership Award. This one-of-a-kind benefit event was held on Monday, April 2, 2012, at Wollman Rink in Central Park. First Lady Michelle Obama sent a letter to be read on her behalf.
 
The money raised goes to support Figure Skating in Harlem’s (FSH) innovative academics and fitness program for underserved girls, transforming the lives of these 6-18 year-olds and helping them to grow in confidence, leadership, and academic success. Through its unique programming, FSH empowers young girls by combining educational, artistic, and fitness opportunities through the discipline of skating. “FSH is a vital resource for girls in some of the most under-served communities in New York City. We are continuing to expand our programs as we plan for a future home ice rink of our own with
state-of-the-art educational facilities to anchor in the community,” said FSH Founder & Executive Director Sharon Cohen.
 
Joining more than 600 guests for a festive night of ice skating, autographs, photos, and more were top fashion designers Vera Wang, Kenneth Cole, and B Michael, business moguls Donald Trump, Terry Lundgren, and Stephen Bollenbach, and television personalities including Soledad O’Brien, Tamara Tunie, Jake T. Austin, Rebecca Budig, BD Wong, Harry Smith, and more. Also showing their support were Kevin & Dani Jonas, Emme, New York Rangers legend Rod Gilbert, and Celebrity Apprentice stars Dee Snider and Dayana Mendoza. An inaugural gala dinner celebrating 15 years of FSH was held at The Central Park Boathouse following the skating portion of the night. (Photo above, Vera Wang and Evan Lysacek, Photo Credit: Greg Partanio/ManhattanSociety.com)
 
Throughout the evening, guests skated with Olympic legend Scott Hamilton, reigning Olympic Champion Evan Lysacek, and many more Olympic and world-class skaters including Olympic Champions Sarah Hughes and Tara Lipinski, Sasha Cohen (Olympic Silver Medalist), Todd Eldredge (World Champion), Tanith Belbin (Olympic Silver Medalist with partner Ben Agosto), Joannie Rochette (Olympic Bronze Medalist), Paul Wylie (Olympic Silver Medalist), and Nicole Bobek (World Bronze Medalist), as well as the entire 2012 United States World Team: Meryl Davis and Charlie White (2012 US Ice Dancing Champions and 2012 World Silver Medalists), Caydee Denney and John Coughlin (2012 US Pairs Figure Skating Champions), Jeremy Abbott (2012 US Men’s Figure Skating Champion), Ashley Wagner (2012 US Women’s Figure Skating Champion), Alissa Czisny (2011 US Women’s Figure Skating Champion),  Maia and Alex Shibutani (World Bronze Medalists), Adam Rippon,  Mary Beth Marley and Rockne Brubaker, and Madison Hubbell and Zach Donohue. (Photo below. 2012 US World Team at Figure Skating in Harlem Skating with the Stars gala, Photo Credit: Greg Partanio/ManhattanSociety.com)
 

The 2012 Skating with the Stars auction runs through April 17th at www.charitybuzz.com/fsh, and includes the chance to meet President Bill Clinton, Vera Wang, Soledad O’Brien, Carson Kressley, Brian Boitano, Watch What Happens Live host Andy Cohen, Sophie & Katherine from DC Cupcakes,  and many, many more.

Sasha Cohen skates at Rockefeller Rink for the Today show

In case you missed it this morning, Sasha Cohen skated at Rockefeller Rink for the Today show. She'll be at Wollman Rink on Monday, April 4, to support Figure Skating in Harlem's annual gala. Love the new do!

Evan Lysacek and Sasha Cohen to headline every Stars On Ice show

• What Sasha Cohen sometimes regrets. [ESPN]

• Elvis Stojko says his ice show Rock The Ice will feature aerials, acrobatics and of course, a little martial arts. [thepeterboroughexaminer]

• Russian skaters shine at Coupe de Nice. [icenetwork]

• Rachael Flatt is busier than ever preparing for her Grand Prix assignments. [Universal Sports]

• Brian Boitano likes Asian food. [sfist]

• Evan Lysacek trades the ice rink for a TV ballroom. [Globe and Mail]

• Hooray! Terry Gannon and Tara Lipinski are back as commentators for the Grand Prix. [Aunt Joyce's Ice Cream Stand]

• Kimmie Meissner and God. [patheos]

• ABC announces Skating with the Stars which will debut on November 22. Who will The Situation be paired with? [NYMag]

• Catching up with Jeremy Ten and his Armani fixation. [PjKwong]

• Set your alarm clocks this Friday -- icenetwork is streaming the NHK Trophy in Japan live. [icenetwork]

• 2011 Stars On Ice tour schedule announced and Evan Lysacek and Sasha Cohen are in every show! [Stars On Ice]

Sasha Cohen reflects on her comeback (video)

Skating season is here! Are you dusting off your skates that have been stored in the closet for six months (like me), or have you been a good, diligent skater, making it to the rink at least once a week? As our thoughts turn to the new season, let's not forget how exciting last season was, also being an Olympic year. Especially for the ladies field, I was riveted by the US Championships (commonly known as "Nationals") in January because there were only two slots available for the Olympic team. The field was packed with the youngsters -- Mirai Nagasu, Rachael Flatt, Ashley Wagner, Christina Gao -- and a veteran, 24-year-old Sasha Cohen. (photo at right, Sasha attends the 2010 Figure Skating in Harlem benefit in NYC)

Sasha was the 2006 US champion and then went on to win the silver at the 2006 Torino Winter Olympics and then the bronze at 2006 Worlds. She then stopped competing after Worlds and did a ton of professional shows where she was a crowd favorite. A lot of expectation was on her during her competing days to win, win, win. After all, she was the best out there artistically and when she was on, she was great technically. The problem was -- she would consistently have a brilliant short or long program, and have a not-so-good short or long program. Should she have won gold in more events? If she had, she probably wouldn't have come back during the 2009-2010 season to try for another Olympics.

So what happened at the 2010 Nationals? Sasha was second after the short and then had some bobbles in the free skate to place fourth in the free skate. She came in fourth overall and didn't make it onto the Olympic team. (Rachael Flatt came in first and Mirai Nagasu came in second and they went on to Vancouver. See complete results here.) But Sasha was definitely the wild card, the dark horse, the party crasher, however you want to call it -- it was a very exciting ladies competition because of her. When she came in second after the short program (and Mirai came in first), we all thought: Oh my goodness, are we actually going to send newbie 16-year-old Mirai and veteran 24-year-old Sasha as the US representatives? That would be so awesome! Anyway, it was not to be. Above is my (short) conversation with Sasha about her comeback when she was in NYC earlier this year for the 2010 Figure Skating in Harlem annual benefit.