Kimmie Meissner is originally from the Baltimore area, in case you wondered about the musical score from the video above, but she's spent most of her year in Fort Lauderdale, having lived in an apartment here since February last year, when she came to train with a new coach. Unfortunately, the star-crossed former Olympian only ran into more bad luck.
Meissner dislocated her kneecap in August, the same month she was sent reeling by the death of an aunt with whom she was close. She had hoped that the knee and a lingering bout of tendinitis would allow her to compete in qualifying events, but her camp announced Friday that she had to drop out.
From an article in the Baltimore Sun:
Meissner's coach, Richard Callaghan, said the skater was "very upset with the situation."
"She was having a great summer before the injury in August. I was truly confident that if she was skating at 90 percent of her capability, that she had an excellent chance to go back to the Olympics," he said. "It would be a shame if she got back to training and was in the best shape of her life by the time of nationals in January. But she has to comply with the rules."
Her decision has consequences beyond the prize money and points on the international circuit. Meissner was given a bye from having to qualify this weekend at regionals in Rockville for the U.S. National Championships because of the extensive amount of travel involved in competing in the Rostelecom Cup of Russia in Moscow, Oct. 22-25, and the NHK Trophy in Tokyo, Nov. 5-8.
That waiver is no longer valid because it was conditioned on Meissner skating in the Grand Prix events, said U.S. Figure Skating spokeswoman Scottie Bibb.
