Fresh start for Meissner

'Refocused' skater gearing up for new season

By Candus Thomson | Sun reporter

October 24, 2007

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.

"Business," said Meissner, replaying both roles in the story with great relish.

"Business?" asked the guard as she stared at the skater's passport. "What do you do?"

"Figure skating," said Meissner, her grin getting bigger.

"Well, you keep practicing and maybe someday you'll get to the Olympics," the guard said, waving Meissner through.

Meissner enjoys telling the story and the point it makes. Even with a sixth-place finish at last year's Olympics and world and national titles on her resume, the 18-year-old from Bel Air mostly flies under the radar.

Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, considering the hectic pace last year that left her and coach Pam Gregory running on fumes by the world championships in March.

With a packed Tokyo venue screaming for hometown sweetheart Mao Asada, Meissner finished fourth and relinquished her world title to another Japanese skater, Miki Ando.

"That was huge pressure for both of us," Gregory said. "We'd never been in that position. But I think with every experience, we grow. ... She was very nervous and still managed to do a very respectable job. I don't think No. 4 in the world is too shabby."

For her part, Meissner said the experience toughened her to skate "when the building's shaking."

A sonic boom isn't likely to happen Saturday and Sunday, as Meissner again faces Ando at Skate America in Reading, Pa., the first stop on the Grand Prix circuit. Before a sparse crowd last year, Ando won the event, with Meissner the runner-up.

The field also includes U.S. skater Emily Hughes, who has never bested Meissner on the senior circuit, and Caroline Zhang, 14, from California, who won the World Junior Championships this year and the Junior Grand Prix Final last year.

"I think I'm coming in a stronger skater," Meissner said during a break in practice. "Last year, I kind of thought it was about what [score] I got, and I kind of lost myself a little bit. I think I've rediscovered why I skate. I love just skating and not getting wrapped up in everything. I've never been one to really get into 'I have to get first. I have to beat this person, or I have to get a certain amount of points.' I just have to skate well. So I've kind of refocused."

She's taking three classes at the University of Delaware - English on campus and philosophy and psychology online. And while she lives at home, she has the freedom of driving her own car, a BMW 325.

Gregory, who has set ambitious goals for Meissner since the two began working together on the novice level, said the challenge this year is the defense of her U.S. title and a return to the podium at the World Championships.

Michelle Kwan, the nine-time U.S. and five-time world champion, calls Meissner "the new face of figure skating" and said the important thing for her right now is to find ways to stay motivated.

"I know Kimmie; we've been staying in touch via e-mail. The main thing for her is to keep working hard. She's constantly trying new things, new programs and she's staying fresh," Kwan said.

Already, Gregory and Meissner are taking chances, changing her long program and choreographer just four weeks ago after the original four-minute routine proved unworkable.

"It wasn't me. It didn't inspire me. It didn't challenge," Meissner said.

That meant dumping renowned choreographer David Wilson and "Ever After," a song from the 1998 movie of the same name that starred Drew Barrymore as a real-life Cinderella.

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Fresh start for Meissner

'Refocused' skater gearing up for new season

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Fresh start for Meissner

'Refocused' skater gearing up for new season

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