EVERETT — They are the best and the brightest of United States figure skating, and among the top contenders in the much-anticipated ladies competition at Skate America, being contested this weekend at Comcast Arena at Everett Events Center.
And for lack of an official team title, we’ll call them the U.S. Kiddie Corps.
Mirai Nagasu, who is from Arcadia, Calif., is 15 years old and the youngest competitor in the Skate America field. She is also the 2008 United States champion, a title she won in January when she was a mere 14.
Rachael Flatt, who lives in Del Mar, Calif., is 16. She was the runner-up to Nagasu at this year’s U.S. nationals and is the 2008 world junior champion.
And Kimmie Meissner, who recently moved from her hometown of Bel Air, Md., to train in Coral Springs, Fla., is all of 19. She was on the 2006 U.S. Olympic team, where she was the youngest American athlete in Torino, Italy. Meissner was also the 2006 world champion, the 2007 U.S. champion, and is the reigning Skate America champion.
This threesome, in other words, is both youthful and formidable.
And in the years of transition from U.S. standouts Sarah Hughes, Michelle Kwan and Sasha Cohen, Nagasu, Flatt and Meissner are a big part of the future for American women on the ice, both at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, B.C., and beyond.
If that’s not enough, there is another top American in 15-year-old Caroline Zhang of Boston, who will not be at Skate America because the host country is limited to three individuals/teams in each event. Zhang was second to Flatt at the 2008 world junior championships (where the U.S. women took the top three spots for the second year in a row), fourth at the U.S. championships, and fourth at the International Skating Union Grand Prix Finals earlier this year, which was the highest placing by a U.S. skater.
No other country in the world, it seems, has as many promising young female skaters as the United States.
That said, there is plenty of talent among the international skaters on hand in Everett this weekend. Among the other ladies favorites are Miki Ando of Japan, who was the Skate America champion in 2006 and the 2007 world champion; Yukari Nakano, also of Japan, who was fourth at the 2008 world championships; Yu-Na Kim of Korea, who placed first at the last two ISU Grand Prix Finals; and Yan Liu of China, a three-time national champion.
“This competition has so many great skaters,” said Meissner, who went through a joint Thursday practice session with her fellow competitors at Comcast Center. “And that’s why it’s going to be so exciting.”
“I think it’s going to be a really strong competition,” Nagasu said. “And just to be here skating amongst (all these top skaters) is a pleasure and an honor.”
Although some of the world’s top women skaters are not in Everett this weekend, there are enough to make this a truly elite field. The ladies competition begins on Saturday evening with the short program and wraps up Sunday afternoon with the free skate.
Although Meissner won last year’s Skate America in Reading, Pa., “I personally don’t feel any pressure coming into this competition,” she said. “It would be great to win Skate America again, but I’m really just here to put up two solid programs and enjoy myself out there and have the audience enjoy it.
“I was so excited to get on the ice today,” she added with a smile. “I was ready so early. Usually I’m always late for everything, but I can’t wait for the competition to start … I think it’s going to be super competitive and I know I’m very competitive. I’m ready to go.”
Skate America is the first of six ISU Grand Prix events and the initial event of the 2008-09 skating season. This competition, then, will be the first time many of these skaters have seen each other since last winter.
Or as Meissner put it, “It’s the start of everything.”
“This is where everybody shows off their wares,” added Brian Orser, a former two-time Canadian Olympic medalist and Kim’s coach. “They show off their new programs and they start the buzz. You want people talking up your programs and … everything you’ve been working on for the last four months.”
“You’ve got a lot of the top ladies here,” said Richard Callaghan, who coaches Meissner. “So it’s a great way to start the year, and to find out where you stand and what to work on.”
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