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Kimmie Meissner Makes Her Torino Debut

Kimmie Meissner Photo by Mary Ciecek/Getty Images

2006 Olympic Winter Games Photos, News and Blogs

(2/10/06) - 2006 U.S. silver medalist Kimmie Meissner met with the press Friday morning in the Sala 500 press conference room in Torino, Italy, at the Olympic Winter Games. The 16-year-old is the youngest member of the U.S. Olympic Team, and she expressed her excitement at competing at the event.

“I didn't know what I was expecting here,” Meissner said. “I walked in and the whole village is just huge, but there's so many neat things. I like my room. It's a little small, but I like it because it's kind of cozy because it's little. I share my room with my coach so it's fun because it's kind of like a sleepover.”

Meissner was given quite the send-off by friends and neighbors in her hometown of Bel Air, Md., before departing for Torino. Her last day of school was Friday, Feb. 3; she is a junior at Fallston High School. “The last day of school everybody wore red, white and blue and took a lot of pictures,” she said. “And there were banners and signs up all over my high school so I would stand there and all the kids would come around and take pictures. Really on the last day of school when I should have been in my classes I was taking pictures. In my town there's a sign up that says “good luck Kimmie” and my neighbors all put red, white and blue ribbons on their mailboxes. So when you go through it's all very colorful.”

Meissner is renowned for technical ability, which included a triple Axel at the 2005 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. By landing the jump she became only the second U.S. lady in history to do so, following Tonya Harding's feat in 1991. Meissner has not landed the jump in the 2005-06 season but has packed her programs with difficult triple-triple combinations. Meissner thinks she has a chance to be the third 16-year-old U.S. lady in a row to win Olympic gold.

“I think that if I skate really well, and give the performance of my lifetime – of my life – that maybe, maybe I could (win gold),” Meissner said. “I'm not going to rule it out, but I'm just trying to think about what I need to do right now.”

She also said it meant a lot to be a member of such a talented and well-known U.S. Team.

“I feel good that I'm on the same team as her (Kwan), because she has been an idol I looked up to when I was younger,” Meissner said. “I'm really honored to be on the same team as Michelle and Sasha.”