After Conquering Worlds, Meissner Takes Aim at Running the Country

Kimmie Meissner, a 17-year-old who hails from Maryland, is the reigning world figure skating champion but has not won the ladies' U.S. crown. (By Chris Gardner -- Associated Press)

Five-time world champion Michelle Kwan, the very definition of grace, is skipping the U.S. Figure Skating Championships this week in Spokane, Wash. So is Sasha Cohen, the porcelain doll who has twirled for so long in Kwan's shadow.

The skaters, who have combined to win the last nine national titles, are taking a year's hiatus from competition -- Kwan, 26, to heal lingering injuries and resume her college studies, Cohen, 22, to test her potential as an actress and sort out whether to return for one last stab at an Olympic gold medal or retire.

That leaves Maryland's Kimmie Meissner, 17, poised to win her first U.S. championship, having claimed the silver and bronze, respectively, in her two previous attempts. But can Meissner capture the public's fancy and recharge interest in a sport that's in transition, with neither household names nor scandal to drive television ratings in this post-Olympic year? Does the self-effacing Meissner, a precocious jumper with a budding artistic style, have the panache to become the next face of figure skating?

"It's hard for me to think like that," Meissner said in a conference call last week. "I don't think about myself as the face of figure skating."

That, she added, is for the public to decide. For now, Meissner is happy being the face on the cover of a Harford County phone book.

"Now when I go to get a number out of it, I have to look at myself!" Meissner added. "It's definitely something I enjoy."

A senior at Bel Air's Fallston High, Meissner says she has spent the past few weeks stressing more about her final exams (in English, French and fundamentals of technology) than what's in store at nationals. Her chief competition is expected to come from Emily Hughes, younger sister of 2002 Olympic champion Sarah Hughes and the skater who took Kwan's place after injury forced her to bow out of the 2006 Games in Turin, Italy.

It would be easy for a teenage figure skating prodigy to get lost in the fairy tale that the magic moments on ice will go on forever -- that life after skating will continue to include sparkly dresses, the adoration of strangers and bouquets of roses and teddy bears strewn at their feet. But Meissner's parents have worked hard to keep the sport in perspective.

"I've always told her there is life after skating: 'Skating is your life now, but it's not really going to be your life when you're 30,' " says Judy Meissner, Kimmie's mother. "I've seen some of the kids who start doing a sport like this from the time they are little, when really it's not necessarily them making all the decisions when they're 6 or 7 years old. So when they become 18, 19 or 20, it's all they know. Then it's scary to step out of that box and step out into the real world."

As a result, the Meissners have reared as grounded a world champion as one will find. An "A" student, Meissner loves science -- human anatomy in particular -- and is leaning toward a career in physical therapy. With the SAT behind her, she's in the midst of mulling how heavy a course load to take next fall, when she plans to enroll as a freshman at the University of Delaware. Thornier still is the question of whether to live on campus or commute from the home she has shared with her parents, three older brothers, two dogs (including a 135-pound greater Swiss mountain dog that dwarfs her) and a complement of cats.

Unlike so many teens who have devoted as many as a dozen years to a single sport, Meissner shows no signs of burnout.

"I still definitely love practice," she says. "I look forward to it when I'm in school. 'Only a couple minutes till I go skating!' It's always challenging. I love the feeling of mastering everything -- trying to get the jumps perfect."

Meissner has already achieved every skater's lifelong goal -- winning the world championships last spring with a near flawless performance that included two triple-triple combinations. But she sees room to improve her artistic dimension and has thrown herself into that.

Kristi Yamaguchi, the 1992 Olympic champion, applauds the effort.

"She has proven that technically she is up there with the best in the world," Yamaguchi said. "The one part a skater can always improve on is the artistic side -- to keep refining that and maturing artistically."

In Meissner's case, that means bringing out her personality and interpreting her music with more passion.

"She has got beautiful lines already," Yamaguchi said. "It's about fine-tuning her programs and adding a little inspiration to her movements."

To that end, Meissner has built her free skate program around a piece of Spanish music she loves, "Galicie Flamenco." The goal, she explains with a giggle, is to release her inhibitions on ice and make everything about her performance "bigger."

Once again, family has been there to help. In addition to working with her choreographer, Lori Nichol, Meissner is being tutored in Buffalo by her great-aunt Helen, a former flamenco teacher, who is sharing the finer points of flamenco style, such as keeping one's palms up.

"I think it has helped me so much," Meissner says of her strong family ties and traditional upbringing. "I could never imagine being separated from my family. It really helps after a day of skating to come home and relax and unwind."