The United States Olympic Committee has announced that Kimmie Meissner of the University of Delaware Figure Skating Club has been voted the March Athlete of the Month. It is the first time Meissner has won this USOC honor.
Meissner was honored after winning the 2006 International Skating Union World Figure Skating Championship in Calgary. She was the only competitor in the ladies event to land a triple-triple combination in the free skate, and she actually landed two: a triple flip-triple toe and a triple Lutz-triple toe.
Meissner’s technical elements score of 69.47 in the free skate was one of the highest in history and her total score in the free skate was more than four points higher than that achieved at the 2006 Turin Olympics by the gold medalist, Shizuka Arakawa of Japan.