Meissner keeps busy during hectic summer

Posted on Saturday, July 15th, 2006 at 1:49 am

Maybe it’s a good thing that Kimmie Meissner didn’t win an ESPY Award this week, because she probably would have struggled to find room for the trophy in her luggage.

Meissner, who won the World Figure Skating Championships title in March, was trumped by NBA rookie Chris Paul as Best Breakthrough Athlete at the ESPN show honoring the year’s best sports moments and stars. The show was taped Wednesday night in Los Angeles and will be telecast Sunday.

The 16-year-old Meissner took the defeat with the kind of grace she usually shows on the ice.

“It didn’t matter if I won. Just being in L.A. was awesome,” she said upon arriving home in Bel Air. “I had a good time and met a whole bunch of people. It was cool.”

Meissner is easily the most recognized person at Fallston High School, but the diminutive skater didn’t exactly leave her fellow athletes awe-struck during the media sessions leading up to the show.

“Some of the people asked me who I was with. I said, ‘Me!’” Meissner said, chuckling at the memory.

Although she didn’t get an award, Meissner didn’t come home empty-handed. Besides receiving several keepsakes, she dragged her father to Rodeo Drive for a whirlwind shopping trip.

“It was unbelievable, the stuff they had there,” Meissner said.

Her most memorable souvenir, however, was stored in a camera.

“I’ve been wanting to meet Lance Armstrong for years, and I got to pose for a picture with him,” Meissner said. “That’s one I’m going to frame and keep forever.”

Like Armstrong, Meissner is backing a charitable campaign that creates funds through the sale of bracelets. Armstrong’s yellow bracelets provide money for cancer research; Meissner is the ambassador for the Cool Kids Campaign, which seeks to improve the quality of life for children undergoing treatment for cancer. The campaign offers toys, fun food, outings and financial assistance to pediatric oncology patients at Johns Hopkins Hospital and University of Maryland Medical System, both in Baltimore.

In only a month, more than 8,000 of her personally designed TRIUMPH bracelets have been sold around the country. She expects sales to pick up next week, when they will be offered at several restaurant and fast-food chains.

So, between promoting the sale of the bracelets and taking shopping trips to Los Angeles, when does Meissner find time to skate?

“Last week was the first time all summer that I had a whole week of training,” she said. “I’ve got my long program under control, and I’ll be working on the short soon.”

Most of her friends are enjoying the summer at the beach or just lounging around, yet Meissner wouldn’t trade places with any of them.

“When I sit back and think of all that’s happened since March, I know it’s been crazy but I embrace it,” she said. “I feel comfortable with what I’m doing. When I have a rare day off, I don’t know what to do with myself because I’m always doing something.

“My life has definitely changed–for the better.”

By David Ginsburg
The Associated Press