Kimmie Meissner

Kimmie Meissner
Kimmie Meissner competes her long program at the 2005 World Junior Championships in Kitchener, Ontario.
Height	5 ft 3 in (160 cm)
Figure skating career
Country	United States
Coach	Pam Gregory
Skating club	University of Delaware FSC

Most Recent Results:
Event	Points	Finish	Year
World Championships	180.23	4th	2007
Four Continents Championships	172.75	1st	2007
National Championships	181.69	1st	2007

Kimberly Claire "Kimmie" Meissner (born October 4, 1989) is an American figure skater. She is the 2007 U.S. National Champion, the 2007 Four Continents Champion, and the 2006 World Champion. She is the second American woman to land the triple Axel in competition.

Career

Meissner was born in Towson, Maryland in 1989. She had a successful novice and junior career, winning her Novice and Junior national titles back to back in 2003 and 2004. In 2004, she won the silver medal behind Miki Ando at the World Junior Figure Skating Championships.

The following year, at age 15, she won the bronze medal at the senior 2005 U.S. Championships. At that competition, she became the first American woman since Tonya Harding to complete a triple Axel in competition. Meissner's third place finish behind Sasha Cohen and Michelle Kwan would normally have earned her a spot on the U.S. team to the 2005 World Championships, but she was unable to compete due to the age limits set by the International Skating Union. Meissner was instead sent to the 2005 Junior Worlds, where she placed fourth. She attended the 2005 World Championships in Moscow, Russia as a spectator.

In 2006, she qualified for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy after placing 2nd behind Sasha Cohen at the U.S. Championships. At the Winter Olympics, Meissner placed fifth in the short program and sixth overall. Following the Olympics, Meissner competed in her first senior World Championships and took home the gold, upsetting favorites Sasha Cohen and Fumie Suguri. During the free skate, Meissner completed seven triple jumps, including two triple-triple combinations, and received a personal best score of 189.87. This win made her the first woman since Kristi Yamaguchi to win a world title before obtaining a crown from her own country. Meissner is also the first woman to win the Worlds on her first appearance since Oksana Baiul in 1993.

Meissner began the 2006/2007 season by winning two medals on the Grand Prix of Figure Skating circuit. However, due to the deep fields in both her events, she was not able to qualify for the Grand Prix Final. She went into the 2007 United States Figure Skating Championships as the clear favorite, and "filled in the gap" in her resume by winning her first senior national title. This made her the first ladies skater since Barbara Roles to win the national title on the Novice, Junior, and Senior levels.

Meissner went on to the 2007 Four Continents Championships where she became the first U.S. ladies champion to become the Four Continents Champion. From there, she went to the 2007 World Figure Skating Championships. At the 2007 World Championships, Meissner achieved a personal best for her short program where she placed fourth but failed to complete either of her triple-triple combinations in the long program, placing third in the long program and fourth overall.

Meissner has signed on for the 2007 Champions on Ice tour.

Off the ice

When Meissner returned from the 2006 World Figure Skating Championships, a parade was held in her honor in her hometown of Bel Air, and, shortly thereafter, the town gave one of its main roads, Pennsylvania Avenue, the honorary title of Kimmie Way. She starred in a local Subway commercial and threw out the ceremonial first pitch for her hometown team, the Baltimore Orioles, on April 14, and also at the Phillies opening day game.

A native of Maryland, Meissner trains in Newark, Delaware where she belongs to the University of Delaware Figure Skating Club. Meissner lives in Maryland with her family. As a child, she began figure skating after watching her older brothers playing ice hockey.

She attends Fallston High School and intends to graduate in May 2007. She will attend The University of Delaware in Newark, Delaware part time starting in the fall of 2007. As a result of her high-profile skating career, Meissner has landed three major endorsement deals with Subway, VISA, and Under Armour.

Programs

Season	Short Program	Long Program	Exhibition
2007–08	The Feeling Begins by Peter Gabriel	TBD	TBD
				2006–07	Snowstorm by Georgi Sviridov, choreographed by Lori Nichol	Galicia Flamenca Paternera choreographed by Lori Nichol	Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield
Keep Holding On by Avril Lavigne
2005–06	Symphonic Dances by Sergei Rachmaninoff	Queen of Sheba by Ottorino Respighi	Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Eva Cassidy
			Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield
2004–05	Reverie by Claude Debussy	Daphnis and Chloe	Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson
2003–04	Sand and Water	Pines of Rome by Ottorino Respighi	Here Comes the Sun by Linda Eder
2002–03	Raymonda by Alexander Glazunov	Symphony No. 5 by Sergei Prokofiev	Say a Little Prayer by Diana King

Competitive highlights

Event	2002-2003	2003-2004	2004-2005	2005-2006	2006-2007	2007-2008
Winter Olympic Games				6th
World Championships				1st	4th
Four Continents Championships					1st
World Junior Championships		2nd	4th
U.S. Championships	1st N.	1st J.	3rd	2nd	1st
Skate America					2nd	TBD
Trophée Eric Bompard				5th	3rd	TBD
NHK Trophy				5th
Junior Grand Prix Final		5th	3rd
JGP Long Beach			2nd
JGP Courchevel			2nd
JGP Slovenia		1st
JGP Bulgaria		2nd
Triglav Trophy	3rd N.

• N = Novice level; J = Junior level

External links

• U.S. Olympic Team bio
• Kimmie Meissner at U.S. Figure Skating (archived)
• Kimmie Meissner at the International Skating Union