Sun coverage: Kimmie Meissner

Baltimore Exhibition

Meissner returns to home ice

Kimmie Meissner has a message for her friends in Bel Air who haven't seen her since late January.

More twists, turns ahead

After a season that started with a win, bottomed out in January and regained some altitude with a seventh-place finish at the World Figure Skating Championships this week, what does Kimmie Meissner do now?

World Championships

Meissner falls, ends up 7th

Figure skater Ashley Wagner summed it up best: "It's a lot harder than it looks."

World Figure Skating Championships

No-spill performance for Meissner

GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN // When her short program was over yesterday, Kimmie Meissner smiled the smile of a champion, a smile few had seen in more than a year.

Might as well jump

GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN // Richard Callaghan has no idea why Kimmie Meissner lost her way -- and her U.S. and world figure skating titles -- over the past year.

World Championships

Meissner's confidence jumps

The beginning of Kimmie Meissner's spiral from the pinnacle of figure skating began, cruelly enough, two years ago after she was crowned world champion.

Growing up, falling down

There are no figures in women's figure skating. Kimmie Meissner is finding that out the hard way.

Ins and outs of coaching

New spin for Meissner

With six weeks to go before the World Figure Skating Championships, Kimmie Meissner has dropped her longtime coach in favor of one she hopes will provide a quick fix.

U.S. Figure Skating Championships

Falling hard

Kimmie Meissner looked nothing like the young woman who rocketed to the top of the figure skating world two years ago.

U.S. Women

Meissner must play catch-up in long program

In basketball, a 12-point lead can disappear in four trips down the floor.

Meissner slips up

Perhaps a young competitor best summed up the opening night of the U.S. women's figure skating championships.

U.S. Championships

Curry's state of grace

He is mostly a memory, his grace and artistry lost to recent generations of figure skaters.

U.S. Championships

Meissner retooling for a repeat

She medaled at two international competitions this season and is the reigning U.S. figure skating champion.

Meissner figures odds just right

Add steely nerved gambler to the list of words that can be used to define Kimmie Meissner.

2010 Olympics, world title figure in skaters' rivalry

As matchups go, this could be the season's grandest of Grand Prix series events, a figure skating competition with crystal ball potential for this year and beyond.

Meissner glides to title

Kimmie Meissner beat the world champion and the world junior champion and survived the judges who decided to enforce the scoring system yesterday to earn the gold medal at Skate America.

Meissner grabs lead in short program

The present and future of U.S. women's figure skating sit in first and third place after the short program at Skate America, the first Grand Prix event of the season.

Fresh start for Meissner

On her way to Toronto recently to work with her choreographer for the new figure skating season that begins this week, Kimmie Meissner stopped at the border crossing. A guard asked the U.S. champion the reason for the visit.

Figure skating

Routine operation

With a new season on the horizon, U.S. figure skating champion Kimmie Meissner is channeling her inner Michelle Kwan.

Meissner gets 4th at worlds

It has been a whirlwind year on and off the ice for Kimmie Meissner, who gained a title and lost a title while establishing herself as one of the world's elite figure skaters.

Figure skating

Meissner needs a leap

Going into today's long program at the World Figure Skating Championships, Kimmie Meissner finds herself in a familiar spot: behind.

Autograph is Meissner's new signature move

TOKYO // It can take Kimmie Meissner nearly a half-hour to walk the two blocks from the Meiji Jingo practice rink to the main venue at the municipal gymnasium.

Online exclusive

Meissner's title defense starts with home cooking

So, what does a world champion eat when she's on the road?

Kimmie's right-hand man

"Dear Mr. Jim O'Toole," the letter begins, "thank you very much for shooting Kimmie Meissner at your school."

Meissner wears bull's-eye

Figure Skating

World class acts

At 17, Katie Hoff and Kimmie Meissner are already Olympic veterans, each making her mark by bending water to her will.

Event brings more than gold

So what was the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships worth to the top U.S. man and woman?

Spinning gold again

Kimmie Meissner proved yesterday why she's the reigning world and national champion, coming from sixth place to win the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships.

Meissner might give axel a spin

Make no mistake, Kimmie Meissner would rather be skating an exhibition tonight than sitting in some fancy restaurant or indulging in a rare chocolate treat.

Meissner falls, escapes

The thin air and sparse crowd seemed to take the wind out of Kimmie Meissner's sails during her short program last night at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships.

Spinning to stop in Colorado fits Meissner's routine

It stands to reason that Kimmie Meissner's unconventional rise to the top of women's figure skating might include some unplanned stops.

Brighter spotlight

Thirty-one years ago this month, Dorothy Hamill felt the weight of Olympic gold around her neck as she stood on the podium in Innsbruck, Austria.

Skater's career takes a big leap

Three days after winning the U.S. Figure Skating Championship, Kimmie Meissner of Bel Air has agreed to three major endorsement deals and an ice show tour.

U.S. Skating Championships

Meissner leans into U.S. crown

SPOKANE, Wash. // By stumbling forward instead of falling backward on her opening jump, Kimmie Meissner of Bel Air won the U.S. Figure Skating Championships yesterday and completed her set of medals from the event.

Handily, Meissner grabs the lead

It's hard to follow a standing ovation, but last night Kimmie Meissner did just that and grabbed the lead at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

Meissner pursues national prize

With bronze and silver medals already at home in Maryland, Kimmie Meissner will try to complete the set this week at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

Meissner's music attuned to family

A fringed black shawl with embroidered pink rose is draped across Kimmie Meissner's lap. A lacy mantilla rests on her shoulders.

Meissner finishes 3rd in Paris

South Korean teenager Kim Yu Na held off American world champion Kimmie Meissner of Bel Air to win the women's event yesterday at the Trophee Bompard in Paris.

Paris no treat for Meissner

Last month, Japan's Miki Ando beat countrywoman Mao Asada and Kimmie Meissner in figure skating's first Grand Prix event of the season.

Figure skating

Meissner jumps to silver

HARTFORD, Conn. // One night after a sublime performance at Skate America that brought the house down and vaulted her into first place, Japanese teen figure skating sensation Mao Asada proved beatable.

Meissner 3rd after 1st round

HARTFORD, Conn. // For the first time in seven months, Kimmie Meissner experienced the adrenaline rush of competition and renewed attention of the figure skating world.

Meissner set to jump-start season

HARTFORD, Conn. Last year, in her first season on the elite international circuit, Kimmie Meissner wanted her on-ice performances to show maturity.

Commentary

Rick Maese: No skating around it: I can't match Meissner

Kimmie Meissner just might be the strongest human being on the face of the planet.

Banding together for kids

More than all the beribboned nuggets of gold, silver and bronze stacked in her bedroom, Kimmie Meissner is proudest of the band of red, white and blue that envelops her slender wrist.

Meissner will take new moves for spin

After a season that included winning the world figure skating championship and finishing sixth at the Olympics, Kimmie Meissner is ready to start over.

Worlds win gives Meissner jump on earning potential

The title "world champion" implies that one can't do a whole lot better.

Skater's routine is about to change

Kimmie Meissner concluded her first season skating among the sport's elite in spectacular fashion, and she'll now turn her attention to the next big event on her calendar: the school prom.

Meissner clinches world skating title

Her smile stretched from one end of the rink to the other, and hundreds of young girls excitedly shrieked her name: "Kimmie! Kimmie!" The screams bounced off the rafters.

Meissner in position for podium

CALGARY, Alberta // When Kimmie Meissner returned home from the Olympics a month ago, her right eardrum had ruptured. It bled, and she could barely hear out of it.

Meissner's growth spurt

Kimmie Meissner didn't bring a medal home from the Olympics, but she brought something that feels nearly as important. And this week, for the first time, she is finally able to test her newfound confidence on competitive ice.

Figure Skating

Meissner records her best

The World Figure Skating Championships in Calgary, Alberta, have gotten off to a good start for Kimmie Meissner. She posted a personal-best score in qualifying last night, leaving her in second place heading into tomorrow's short program.

Bel Air throws parade for skater

She was ushered through the heart of her hometown as adoring fans snapped her picture and screamed her name, and she later listened as a bevy of elected officials sang her praises and handed her enough proclamations, gift baskets and bouquets to fill a wheelbarrow.

Back to normal, but not for long

Competing in the Olympics may have been the easy part for Kimmie Meissner.

Turin Olympics

Her positive spin

When she walks into the Olympic Stadium tomorrow night for the closing ceremony, Kimmie Meissner will have something more valuable than her sixth-place finish as a souvenir.

Figure skating

Meissner 6th and satisfied

When others fell, Shizuka Arakawa did not, allowing the Japanese skater to win her country's first medal at these Olympics and avert a Russian sweep of the figure skating events.

Rick Maese: Meissner rings up useful experience

As Sasha Cohen stood on a podium and felt 20 ounces of silver pulling at her neck, David Raith was talking about the future. Raith is the executive director of U.S. Figure Skating. You bet he's excited about Cohen's finish, but his hope comes from scanning further down the leader board.

Analysis

Rising to the top

The judges for the Winter Olympics women's figure skating competition got it right. What fun is that?

Tracking Meissner

Despite the furious clicks and reclicks on the "refresh" button of an Internet browser, it seemed to take hours for the news from Italy to flicker onto the computer screen in the office of St. Ignatius Church in Bel Air, where members of the staff were anxious to learn how parishioner Kimmie Meissner fared.

Meissner holds title in classy costuming

So she flubbed her first triple flip, and her triple Lutz - according to NBC Web site commentators - suffered from "an awkward, tilted landing."

Turin Olympics

Meissner keeps a sharp edge

From the time Kimmie Meiss- ner skated her short program Tuesday night to the time she found out she finished in fifth place, "it felt like I competed days ago," she said.

Turin Olympics

Olympic fever hits ice

The air was cold and the stands empty in the Columbia Ice Rink yesterday afternoon as a handful of young skaters spread out across the ice and practiced the fundamentals of their sport: digging in a toe pick for a jump, holding arms in the correct position for a spin, trying again and again to leap into the air and land gracefully on one blade.

Rick Maese: As Meissner glows, Cohen's a no-show

Her medal hopes ahead of her, the Skating Surprise pulled her luggage behind her.

Kevin Cowherd: Class acts amid the meltdowns in the Olympics

Sasha Cohen, Kimmie Meissner and Emily Hughes aside, it's easy to think of these Winter Olympics as another depressing reality show, only without a lot of bad singing or Donald Trump and his lacquered hair reducing some poor apprentice to tears.

Meissner, Games win ratings gold in Baltimore

Call it the Kimmie Factor, because no one has a better explanation for what happened Tuesday in the ratings battle between NBC's Winter Olympics and Fox's American Idol except the presence of 16-year-old skater Kimmie Meissner of Bel Air.

Turin Olympics

It figures: Harford goes into frenzy over skater

For the Olympian from Bel Air, Jeff Kappus shipped a good luck bag of carrots.

Turin Olympics

Meissner's agenda: fun, clean program

Kimmie Meissner must be channeling Nancy Kerrigan.

Harford's sporting distinction

Harford County is known for suburban sprawl, military munitions and hand-carved ducks.

Delaware club churns out ice champions

How large and powerful is the skating club that helped turn Kimmie Meissner into an Olympian?

Turin Olympics

Two young friends, forever dreaming

Back then, it was just two girls sitting on a bed, each with a dream beating deep inside.

Turin Olympics

Just say Meissner has arrived

Kimmie Meissner got gold-medal questions yesterday at a downtown news conference.

Turin Olympics

Nice on ice

She's not supposed to be here.

Turin Olympics

Off ice, Meissner doesn't skate around questions

The contrast could not have been more stark.

Turin Olympics

Awed Meissner takes in Turin

On the first day of the Winter Olympics, Kimmie Meissner met Laura Bush and heard Luciano Pavarotti and Peter Gabriel sing and Yoko Ono give a reading. But the person she was talking about after last night's opening ceremony at the Olympic Stadium was a U.S. women's hockey player, Kim Insalaco.