Kimmie Meissner Online

I was hoping this was the case!

When Kimmie Meissner filled out her first job application recently, she paused when she reached the line that asked for her employment history. She finally wrote: Team USA, 2002 to present.

But the here and now is an unsettled place. Since last summer, the former world and national figure skating champion has been on the shelf, recovering from an injured right kneecap dislocated in a training mishap.

She missed the Grand Prix season, the U.S. championships and, most importantly, a shot at competing at the Olympics next month – perhaps her last shot.

No longer a teenager and drawing her first nonskating paycheck, Meissner will soon have to decide whether to leave competition behind or try a comeback. There are hints that the itch to compete remains strong.

“I miss going out and being Kimmie Meissner,” she says, smiling self-consciously as she draws air quotes around her name with her fingers.

Meissner pauses and then continues, “I would like to go back and compete at least at one more nationals and skate to the best of my ability. … I miss competing in a big way. Maybe I didn’t understand it then, but I understand it now.”

She skates almost every day. With coach Chris Conte, Meissner has rebuilt her jumping technique to be more efficient, adding rotation to her takeoffs and stability to her landings. And she watched somewhat wistfully last weekend as the skaters she grew up with and competed against made their bids for the Olympic team.

Read the full piece on the Baltimore Sun website

As I sit here watching the US Championships, from Spokane, I’m still kind of sad that Kimmie isn’t there competing with the rest of the girls. Having said that, I’m very excited to see Sasha Cohen. It’ll be interesting to see who makes the team; especially since there are only 2 spots for the Ladies this time around.

In case you hadn’t already noticed, Kimmie is on Twitter. Follow her @KimmieMeissner

Sorry for all the spam on the site. I’ve changed the settings and now you have to register in order to post. Should keep things cleaner around here!

Because of an ongoing knee injury, Kimmie has pulled out of the Grand Prix events she was scheduled to compete at this fall; Cup of Russia (Oct. 22-25) and NHK Trophy (Nov. 5-8).

This turn of events obviously isn’t a good thing given the upcoming Olympic games.

Speedy recovery to Kimmie!

Kimmie’s competition schedule for this fall is set. She will compete at the Cup of Russia on Oct. 22-25 in Moscow, and the NHK Trophy in Nagano, Nov. 5-8 in Japan.