Kimmie Meissner has the jumps down. Now she’s trying to make the rest of the program just as impressive.
“We’ve been working a lot on artistry,” Meissner said Wednesday.
Meissner, the new U.S. figure skating champion, is getting ready to defend her world title next month in Japan. She and coach Pam Gregory are trying to add more than just jumping to her performance.
Gregory said feedback from judges after Meissner’s recent U.S. national and Four Continent victories has been helpful.
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Tickets are selling fast for the University of Delaware World Figure Skating Send-Off Exhibition that will feature world and national champion Kimmie Meissner. The event will be held at 2:30 p.m., Saturday, March 3, at the Fred Rust Ice Arena.
It is highly recommended that tickets be purchased in advance because nearly half of the allotted seats already have been sold, the national send-off exhibition held in January sold out, and UD officials cannot guarantee any tickets will be available for walk-up sales the afternoon of the event.
Meissner, 17, who competes for the University of Delaware Figure Skating Club, won the 2007 State Farm U.S. Figure Skating Championship on Jan. 27 in Spokane, Wash., and followed up with a win in the Four Continents competition. She is preparing to defend her 2006 world title at the International Skating Union championships, to be held March 19-25 in Tokyo. She will perform twice during the March 3 exhibition.
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One bad program can be excused. Two can’t. Kimmie Meissner’s solid free skate program Saturday made up for a poor showing in the short program and allowed her to come back to win the Four Continents title.
Upset with her performance in the short program Thursday night, Meissner made up more than four points on Joannie Rochette of Canada, who finished third. Emily Hughes was second after turning in a personal-best international performance in the free skate.
“I definitely felt more determined,” said Meissner, who recently won the U.S. championships. “I was a little angry.”
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Fresh from winning her first national championships, Meissner could place no higher than sixth in her Four Continents debut, dealing the 17-year-old’s confidence a heavy blow ahead of her world championship defense in Tokyo next month.
Meissner was greeted by loud applause from the small crowd which was quickly replaced by moans when she crashed to the ice on her opening jump.
“It wasn’t my best,” Meissner told reporters. “My favorite is the long (program), there’s much more that I could do.”
Needing to produce something special to reach the podium, Meissner hinted she may be ready to attempt a triple Axel in her long program.
The first and only time Meissner has successfully landed the difficult jump was at the 2005 Nationals.
“I would like to try it,” she said. “I’ve got nothing to lose.
“Sometimes you take the risk, you miss it you take out a lot of points and it really kind of messes up the rest of your program,” she said.
“It’s one of those jumps… if you put it in, the whole flow of the program is different whether or not you make it.”
Reuters
It stands to reason that Kimmie Meissner’s unconventional rise to the top of women’s figure skating might include some unplanned stops.
After winning the U.S. title two weeks ago, the Bel Air teen said she didn’t know if she would perform at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, a competition that has attracted few of the top American women skaters since its start in 1999.
But with the world championships a little more than a month away and a formidable international field awaiting, Meissner, the reigning champion, and the rest of the U.S. champions decided to add the event to their schedules.