Tokyo – Kimmie Meissner found out how tough it is to defend a title.
Especially when the home crowd is screaming for its favorites.
Meissner, the U.S. champion and defending world champion, finished fourth Saturday as Miki Ando and Mao Asada took advantage of the crowd’s roars and gave Japan its first 1-2 finish in the history of the World Figure Skating Championships.
One year after winning four medals in three events, the U.S. team left the worlds with only one prize – a bronze by ice dancers Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto.
“I had to skate after Mao (Asada) did awesome. I couldn’t tune out the screams,” Meissner said.
Meissner couldn’t complete her first triple-triple combination after putting her hand down on the first jump, a triple lutz. Her second combination was ruled a triple-double.
Barely a minute into the routine, she’d already lost a lot of points. It was a much different scene than last year, when she dazzled in the free skate to win the world title.
“It was tough tonight. Mao skated before and obviously did very well,” Meissner said. “So the crowd was really into it. It was very emotional and intense. I had to calm myself down.
“Just to go out there and skate in front of a packed audience like that after such a great performance – I’m very proud of myself for doing that.”
Meissner hopes the difficult circumstances will prepare her for next year’s worlds in Sweden.
“It was not my best. I can do better,” she said. “So I will regroup.”
The rest of the Americans will have to regroup, too. Emily Hughes dropped from sixth after the short program to ninth, falling in the free skate and getting negative marks for underrotating some jumps.
Hughes was 13th in the free skate – behind teammate Alissa Czisny. Still, Meissner and Hughes’ finishes were enough to earn the United States three spots again at next year’s worlds.
Czisny finished 15th. Her free skate was much better than the short program, in which she missed all three jump elements.
