Teen homebody rules skating’s world

Posted on Thursday, October 26th, 2006 at 3:00 am

There remains a childlike innocence about Kimmie Meissner, reflected in everything from how she wants to be known to the two-syllable giggle that punctuates many of her sentences to her reluctance over eventually having to leave home in north suburban Baltimore for college only 45 miles away.

Her given name may be Kimberly, but she still goes by Kimmie, even if she is a 17-year-old high school senior and a young woman with a Bel Aire, Md., street named after her.

She may sound perpetually giggly, but she is serious enough to have put her new celebrity to use to help young cancer patients at two Baltimore hospitals.

She may have traveled the world since 13—competing in Slovenia, Bulgaria, France, Japan and Italy—but she is unashamedly more homebody than globetrotter.

The sudden change in image that occurred at last March’s world championships, when Meissner went from a lady-in-waiting to figure skating’s leading lady, has had an impact on how others see her.

But not how she sees herself.

“I hope I’m handling it all right,” Meissner said.

For the second time in her still-budding career, she unexpectedly has a lot to handle.

As the new Grand Prix season formally begins with Thursday’s Skate America in Hartford, Conn., world champion Meissner is indisputably the top U.S. woman. Also there: Meissner’s primary international challenger, reigning Grand Prix champion Mao Asada, 16, of Japan, who was too young to compete at the 2006 Winter Olympics or worlds.

This is the first post-Olympic season since 1988 in which none of the reigning women’s Olympic medalists—Shizuka Arakawa of Japan, 2006 U.S. champion Sasha Cohen and Irina Slutskaya of Russia—plans to compete. In addition, it is the first season in a decade in which Michelle Kwan is not the biggest name in competitive skating.

“It has been great to have the kind of thought going around that I’m the best in U.S. figure skating,” Meissner said.

Meissner had struggled for nearly a year to match the great expectations created by her performance at the 2005 national championships, her first at the senior level. She not only finished third but also became the second U.S. woman to land a triple-axel jump.

“Last season we kind of didn’t know where she was going to fit into the mix,” said Pam Gregory, Meissner’s coach. “It was her first Grand Prix season, and we knew she had the [technical] elements, but we didn’t know how she would be received.”

The answer? So-so. Meissner had a pair of deserved fifth-place finishes.

“She wasn’t really discouraged and she wasn’t undermarked,” Gregory said. “She just didn’t put the performances out there.”

By the 2006 nationals, Meissner had regained her anticipated performance level. Only a botched double axel 10 seconds from the end of the free skate likely kept her from beating Cohen for the title.

Meissner was a solid sixth at the Olympics despite a slightly flawed free skate and clearly figured to be a medal contender at the worlds. After Cohen opened with a painfully underwhelming free skate, Meissner earned the third-highest long program score in skating’s 4-year-old points system.

She understands that the win shifted the focus of the entire skating world on her. Some already project Meissner as the 2010 Winter Olympic champion.

“We just have to keep the focus on what Kimmie does, not what other skaters are doing or what is expected of her,” Gregory said. “You can’t be concerned if there is another hotshot like Kimmie coming along and, of course, there will be.”

The good things about being a hotshot include traveling on Kimmie Meissner Way, throwing out the first pitch at a Phillies’ game and, most important to Meissner, being involved with pediatric oncology patients.

Meissner helped design bracelets to raise money so children and families coming for in-patient treatment would get care packages with parking and food vouchers and a Game Boy or iPod. She also was host for a skating party.

“I would probably never have been able to do that unless I sort of had a name,” Meissner said.

The unexpected obligations and opportunities of being World Champion Kimmie Meissner could make it a little harder to live up to that name on the ice. Meissner returned to uninterrupted training more than a month later than she had last year, Gregory said.

Now she is back into the familiar routine of high school classes in the morning, followed by the hour-long drive to her training site at the University of Delaware, the return trip, dinner and whatever homework isn’t completed in the car.

That will change after high school graduation. Meissner would like to attend Delaware, a move that would seem simple but it might as well be the other end of the Earth.

“I can’t be away from my parents too long because I love them too much,” Meissner said. “So even an hour is far away from home.”

She isn’t ready to stray from Kimmie Meissner Way. That is just Kimmie Meissner’s way.

By Philip Hersh
Chicago Tribune