Kimmie Meissner Online

Every cloud has a silver lining.

Coming into the free skate over 12 points behind leader Mirai Nagasu, Kimmie needed a spectacular performance — or her competitors to slip up — in order to successfully defend her 2007 title.

Neither of those scenarios occured. Actually, the opposite took place in St. Paul. Most others skated flawless or near-flawless programs, whereas Kimmie hit the ice 3 times during her program. As a result, she finished 7th overall after a combined score of 157.56.

Nagasu took the 2008 title with a total of 190.41 points, followed by Rachael Flatt (188.73), Ashley Wagner (188.56), Caroline Zhang (173.16), BeBe Liang (164.87), and Katrina Hacker (158.28).

With Nationals also serving as a selection meet for the World Champs, there came a new challenge for US Figure Skating. Three of the top 4 finishers are not old enough to compete according to ISU rules. This leaves the US Figure Skating governing body with the tough choice of who would represent the United States.

If you look at the finishers, there were 3 skaters ahead of Kimmie that met the age requirement for Worlds, but US Figure Skating likely decided that her track record at the competition (2006 Champion) and overall international credentials were enough to choose her for the US team over Hacker. Simply put, her leadership and experience is invaluable to the US team.

Joining Kimmie at the 2008 World Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden, are Ashley Wagner and Bebe Liang.

Here is a statement from Kimmie regarding her performance at Nationals:

“I didn’t have a good competition here, which is very unfortunate. I’m so upset. I need to think about what I did here and why, and I need to fix it.”

The announcers continued to point out that Kimmie has had some sort of ankle injury over the past few months or so that she had been keeping under wraps. Maybe it affected her performance. Maybe it didn’t. One thing is sure: Kimmie isn’t blaming her performance on an injury. She cites lack of execution.

In any case, I’d like to say to her “KEEP YOUR HEAD UP, KIMMIE!” As her fans, we know she’ll bounce back from this and continue to represent herself, her family, and her country well; like she always does.

ETA: I’ll see if I can add video of her skates tomorrow.

Kimmie fell on her 1st jump combination tonight during her short program and currently sits in 4th heading into the free skate.

Mirai Nagasu, who is competing in her 1st senior level competition (domestic or international), skated a nearly flawless routine and leads after skating a 70.23 short program. Sixteen year old Ashley Wagner is second (65.15), followed by 15-year-old Rachael Flatt (62.91). Wagner is making her senior nationals debut.

FYI: Olympian Emily Hughes withdrew from the competition earlier this week due to a hip injury.

Defending champions Kimmie Meissner, Evan Lysacek, Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto will take to the ice when NBC Sports presents HD coverage of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships from St. Paul, Minn., Saturday, (4-6 p.m. ET & 8-11 p.m. ET) and Sunday (7-9 p.m. ET). This is the first year of a multiyear agreement between NBC Sports and U.S. Figure Skating Association, after 43 years on ABC/ESPN. The seven hours on NBC are the most network coverage of this event since 1998, and the five hours of network primetime coverage are the most in a decade.

Saturday, Jan. 26, 4-6 p.m. ET – Pairs Free Skate and Ladies Short Program
Saturday, Jan. 26, 8-11 p.m. ET – Dance Final (Live) and Ladies Free Skate (Live)
Sunday, Jan. 27, 7-9 p.m. ET – Men’s Short Program and Men’s Free Skate
Saturday, Feb. 2, 4-6 p.m. ET – Exhibition of Champions

Read the full press release here.