Whatever happened to Kimmie Meissner? | Golden Skate

Whatever happened to Kimmie Meissner?

daphna

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 6, 2004
has she ever officially retired? i know things went downhill horribly for her since 2008, but has she quit altogether?
 
Joined
Mar 11, 2011
I've been really wondering about her, too. It seems like she's been doing many shows in US and jumping easy triples and 2 axels. And just in time for your question, she's competing in Medal Winners Open this weekend!
 

ice coverage

avatar credit: @miyan5605
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Meissner just performed over the weekend at the shows held by An Evening With Champions.
And she will be competing on Oct 5 at the Medal Winners Open in Japan. (Contrary to the name of the event, it is an invitational.)

The IN article about An Evening With Champions has two short paragraphs about her. It says she skated in some shows over the summer as well.
Scroll down here: http://web.icenetwork.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20121001&content_id=39300890&vkey=ice_news

If you want to stay in the loop, you could follow the frequent tweets of Kimmie Meissner @kimmiemeissner from her verified account.
(Example: She tweeted in September about performing in Disson's upcoming Love on Ice show.)
 

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll
Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2003
I don't recall an official announcement, but I believe she has moved on from "competitive" skating...
 

lulu

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 4, 2003
As golden411 mentioned, she skated at the Evening with Champions, and the reviews I've read were all pretty positive. I believe I read she fell at one point, but the reviews also mentioned improved skating & artistry overall.
 

Pepe Nero

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 11, 2011
I'm glad you asked this question, Daphna. I often wonder the same thing. I read Kimmie's tweets on IN, but there doesn't seem to have ever been an official announcement of retirement. (Maybe she has a comeback planned? Too much to dream, I know, but she's still within competitive age range, in figure skating years. She is a contemporary of Mao and Yuna.)

I was just rewatching her LP at 2006 worlds. It's terrific by our standards in 2012. She would beat Carolina Kostner, for sure (I think). Funny, because I used to think it was just okay. :) On the other hand, she is sometimes credited with a triple axel, but I don't think she ever fully rotated it in competition. Nonetheless, I've always been a big fan of Kimmie; she was the supposed to be the successor to Sasha Cohen, right? (The successor who has never quite materialized...)
 
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Victura

On the Ice
Joined
Apr 8, 2012
I've always like Kimmie a lot too. Solid jumps, clean lines, very pleasant to watch, and a very nice person too. Even if she wasn't necessarily "Sasha's successor," she is a world champion, which Sasha never was. She did quite decently the two seasons after her 2006 Worlds win, with a 4CC win and medalling at all 4 GPs, including winning Skate America. It was the season after that she didn't do so well in, and this was around the time that she changed coaches to Richard Callaghan and moved to Florida. She had a knee injury the following season and withdrew from both of her GPs and couldn't compete at Nationals because it was too late to register to qualify. Around this time she moved back to MD and started going to college full time. I'm guessing it was just a combination of different factors - injury, college, other changes, and she just never quite came back to competition but never actively chose to retire. I don't know whether she's finished with school, but if so, I would love to see her attempt a comeback of some sort, maybe not necessarily to competition, but just be more active, perhaps tour with Stars on Ice, which she's at least done guest spots with in the past. This MWO competition is a promising start though. :)
 
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crazydreamer

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 3, 2007
Kimmie quit far too early. She got hung up on judges deducting her for not completing 3 axels and 3-3s. She would have been fine if she had just eliminated those elements, IMO. The US might even have had 3 spots the last few worlds.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Kimmie quit far too early. She got hung up on judges deducting her for not completing 3 axels and 3-3s. She would have been fine if she had just eliminated those elements, IMO. The US might even have had 3 spots the last few worlds.

That's an interesting take on the matter. If you're right, it reflects one problem that can occur when someone reaches the top at a very young age. It's hard to summon up the equanimity to deal with any problems or reversals when one is in one's early or mid teens. (And not just for skaters!) I'd love to see Kimmie give things another try, because she has so many good qualities. And it's not as if the U.S. is brimming over with international medal winners. In fact, the last U.S. lady to stand on the World podium was Kimmie herself, wasn't it?
 

janetfan

Match Penalty
Joined
May 15, 2009
That's an interesting take on the matter. If you're right, it reflects one problem that can occur when someone reaches the top at a very young age. It's hard to summon up the equanimity to deal with any problems or reversals when one is in one's early or mid teens. (And not just for skaters!) I'd love to see Kimmie give things another try, because she has so many good qualities. And it's not as if the U.S. is brimming over with international medal winners. In fact, the last U.S. lady to stand on the World podium was Kimmie herself, wasn't it?

Kimmie had a series of injuries and I think that more than anything else is why she stopped competing.

It's a shame because I thought Kimmie became a more expressive skater after her jumps became inconsistent.

At times I see Rachael the same way - after she lost her 3x3 and some of her consistency she too became a more expressive skater.

If Rachael had her best jumps back last year at Natls she would have given Wagner all she could handle.
But a bad back, broken leg, and other injuries take a toll on skaters.

Sometimes rest is called for and Rachael's team probably had her training and competing when she should have been off the ice resting and recovering.

Alissa needs to be careful - even if it means missing most of this season.

A couple of years ago Mirai had a stress fracture and Frank refused to let her train until she was fully recovered.
That cost her in the short run as she didn't get back to her best until 4CC - but she is still competing today and other coaches might have rushed Mirai back.

If that had happened a chronic condition could have been the result causing a premature retirement.
 
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Joined
Aug 16, 2009
This is one reason I continue to respect Frank Carroll. He doesn't seem to go for the short-term benefit. He trained Michelle Kwan the same way. He made sure she had good jump technique so that when she grew, as all children do, she didn't have to relearn her jumps.

I do hope Alissa is careful. I'd love to see her at her best, and though she probably doesn't have many more peak years as a competitive skater, it would be nice to see her leave that side of the sport on an up note, not struggling to stay on her feet because of some chronic injury.
 
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