Biography

Kimmie began skating at the age of six. She first came into contact with skating while visiting the local rink to watch her brothers play hockey. Kimmie harnessed her skills by participating in the U.S. Figure Skating Basic Skills Program in her hometown. During the 2003-04 season, Kimmie jump-started her junior-level career with a second-place finish at the Junior Grand Prix in Sofia. She was fifth after the short program but jumped up to win the silver with a great free skate. After that, she won her first Junior Grand Prix gold and her first international gold medal at the Junior Grand Prix event in Slovenia. Kimmie then qualified for the Junior Grand Prix Final and finished fifth. In 2004, Kimmie won Gold at the State Farm U.S. Junior Championships, where she landed six triples. She followed up that victory with an impressive second place finish at the World Junior Championships.

During the 2005 season, Kimmie reached new heights when she became the first U.S. female athlete to land a triple axel since 1992 and a third place finish behind Michelle Kwan and Sasha Cohen. Although Kimmie qualified for the 2005 World Championships, she was ineligible to compete because she was too young. She went to the 2005 World Championships in Moscow anyway as a guest reporter for ESPN. Kimmie soaked up the experience and learned a great deal from observing World’s.

During the 2006 season, Kimmie won a silver medal at the U.S. Championships to qualify for the 2006 Olympics in Torino. She performed extremely well at her first Olympics and finished a surprising 6th place. Kimmie showed the world her strong skating skills and her ability to handle the pressure of the Olympics. Three weeks later, Kimmie went to Calgary for her first opportunity to compete at the World Championships. At 16 years old, Kimmie gave an incredible performance and stunned the skating world by winning the title. Kimmie earned one of the highest technical scores in the history of figure skating (69.47) to upset favorite, Sasha Cohen. As a result of her incredible performance, Kimmie was named USOC’s March Athlete of the Month. Following the season, Kimmie made several appearances, including throwing out the first pitch of the Philadelphia Phillies' home opener, speaking at the Association for Women in Sports Media national convention, reading books to children during the annual Easter Egg Roll at the White House, and appearing at the ESPY awards, where she was nominated for "Best Breakthrough Athlete." Kimmie capped off her successful season by winning SKATING magazine's Readers' Choice Award for 2006 Skater of the Year (Michelle Kwan Trophy).

On January 28, 2007, Kimmie captured her first U.S. Championship title. She became the first American since Kristi Yamaguchi to claim the U.S. crown after capturing a world title. One week later, Kimmie followed her win with another victory at the ISU Four Continents Championships.

Off the ice, Kimmie has joined forces with the Cool Kids Campaign to help provide a higher quality of life for kids who are struggling with cancer. Meissner will be supporting various Cool Kids programs, and she plans to work directly with kids at local hospitals by visiting them, skating with them and helping to inspire them to beat the odds they are facing. Meissner's decision to join the Cool Kids comes from her own experience of having two friends live with and try to beat cancer. In August 2007, Kimmie hosted her first charity skating special “Angels on Ice” with all proceeds benefiting the charity.

Cool Kids now has a learning center located in Towson that offers tutoring sessions for the kids while they are going through treatment. They also have a Mommy and Me program, a teen club called “TeensCanSurvive”, and offer other family nights. Cool Kids is involved with the Color Run, The Baltimore Marathon, and has hosted the American Girl Fashion Show for the past three years and working on the 4th year, with a handful of kids who feel well enough to walk in the show.

In addition to her charity work, Kimmie worked with sponsors, Subway, Under Armour and Visa. She appeared in her first television commercial with Jared in the Subway “Eat Fresh” campaign and an Under Armour commercial that aired during the 2008 Super Bowl.

During the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, Kimmie was hired by NBC Olympics as a researcher for figure skating.

Kimmie is graduating from Towson University this December with a degree in English and a concentration in writing. She continues to perform in skating shows, teach seminars and coach at Ice World. In November, Kimmie was recently inducted into the Maryland State Athletic Hall of Fame.

2014-15 will mark Kimmie’s first full tour of Stars on Ice. She has previously appeared as a guest skater.