Sasha Cohen, Columbia University alumna, meditation enthusiast and new mom, is just like you — intrigued by what propels individuals to unimaginable greatness. And while the Olympic silver medalist may seem like an expert on the subject, her newest project focuses more on what comes after success.
On Sasha Sessions: A Team USA Podcast, Cohen invites entrepreneurs, authors and elite athletes to discuss how they reclaimed and reshaped their identities — especially following feats and failures on an international stage.
"As a teenage athlete, you're hyper-focused on making and winning the Olympics, then often forced to retire at an early age," Cohen, 36, said. "You go from being really good at something in the spotlight with a ton of support, press and sponsorships, to being somebody of yesterday."
In the 11 years since her last skating competition, Cohen initially reflected on her career through introspection, therapy and even op-eds published in The New York Times. Responses to her work revealed she wasn't the only one struggling with her identity after the Olympics. So, Cohen pitched the podcast to the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC). The idea was to explore how athletes like Brad Synder, Laurie Hernandez and Adam Rippon seek fulfillment outside of rings and trophies.
"Whether it was interviewing athletes who were still competing or recently retired, I thought a podcast that touched on some of those themes would be an opportunity to explore how people find a sense meaning," Cohen said. "We don't often see the meandering, the struggle or the questioning others go through, and I find sharing these intimate, formative experiences hugely rewarding."
The conversations on Sasha Sessions aren't about abandoning mental techniques used to acquire strength and athletic glory. Rather, they are about how athletes can reroute that energy to benefit their mental wellbeing. In skating, falls and deterrence from perfection sometimes equate to missed opportunities. But in the real world, as Cohen puts it, the markers of success are different.
"It's less about the output at the end of a certain event every season," said Cohen, who is a self-proclaimed perfectionist in her professional life. "It demands a lot of personal exploration to find how you derive satisfaction — there's family, friendships, your health and personal interests that make it harder to define what is winning in life."
In tandem with the theme of wellbeing in her podcast, Cohen was also interviewed in
The Weight of Gold, a documentary about the post-Olympic depression many athletes — like Apolo Ohno, Lolo Jones and
Gracie Gold — experience after chasing the highs of their competitive careers.
A study conducted by the International Olympic Committee found the proportion of elite athletes experiencing anxiety or depression may be as high as 45%. In the film, however, Michael Phelps — who co-produced and narrated the project — predicted the number could
be closer to 80%.
While governing bodies like the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee have begun to tackle the issue in the form of an external
Mental Health Taskforce, Cohen said conversations held in individual rinks and households are invaluable.
"The documentary brought up a range of issues from all different sports and from athletes of all different ages," Cohen said. "It really signifies how important it is to check in on how the person is doing, not the just the athlete or the performer."
Episodes of Sasha Sessions reveal one of Cohen's personal techniques how she overcame debilitating self-doubt in life after skating — "The more one shares and the more one reaches out, the better one feels." She hopes conversations like in her podcast and
The Weight of Gold act as resources for future Olympians.
"In Western society, we really focus on competitive achievement, not just in sports, but in academia and all throughout society," Cohen said. "But in the end, it's the friends and community that makes those accomplishments worthwhile."
After Cohen medaled at the Olympic Winter Games Torino 2006, she toured with Stars on Ice before retiring from figure skating in 2010. The former U.S. champion and three-time World medalist then embraced "being a tadpole in an ocean," exploring her academic interests at Columbia University. She graduated in 2016 with a degree in political science. While processing leaving a skating career that felt unfinished, Cohen began to recognize the value in connecting with other athletes — something that took practice for the skater who used to train "in a bubble."
"I realized how tremendous and spectator athletes are — how much they dedicate and sacrifice and put themselves through," Cohen said. "Reaching out and having conversations like I now have on the podcast gave me a sense of community. It was also an olive branch for those who were at the beginning of this precipice in figuring out who they were when they weren't a skier or speed skater anymore. "
And through this process, Cohen discovered it's best not to limit herself to a single identity.
"I see myself as a mother, a partner, a friend, and I'm still exploring things that interest me," Cohen said. "I haven't cemented into this next person, and perhaps the rest of my life will be somewhat fluid. I had such a firm sense of who I was in skating, so perhaps I haven't wanted to put roots down, but to keep expanding and growing."
When Cohen isn't working or prepping for a future episode, she spends her time chasing around her one-year-old, Dashiell, escaping to nature or just focusing on self-care.
"I've spent so many years in my head, so I try to move into my body more with meditation and quiet time," she said. "I strive to be in this non-linear place where you're not so focused on ego, accomplishments, who you are and what you need to do. You're just appreciating being alive."
As for skating, Cohen still loves the feeling of getting on the ice and putting on music — though she admitted 45 minutes of stroking in a circle feels much more taxing than it used to.
At the end of every episode, Cohen asks her guests what they consider to be their Olympic moment outside of the Olympics. For her, it was receiving an invitation to speak at Columbia University's commencement ceremony in 2018.
Her speech was structured around embracing uncertainty.
"Not until recently did I learn the necessity of giving myself permission not to know, permission to let life unfold," she said at the event. "Refuse to live a life defined by what you're afraid to fail at… [and] define what success means to you. I've found that success cannot be found in a gold medal, in an 'A' or in a prestigious job. For me, success is making life a daily process that I love."
