A painful sight: Hughes, Meissner after the fall(s)

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I don’t know which makes me sadder.

Watching Kimmie Meissner or watching Emily Hughes.

The two 19-year-olds were the Nos. 6 and 7 finishers at the 2006 Olympics, the 1-2 finishers at the 2007 U.S. Championships and remain two of the nicest young women I have met during three decades of covering figure skating.

Yet, the way both have skated over the past two seasons makes me wonder how much joy each still can be getting from a sport that seems to be tormenting them.

Meissner has changed coaches in an effort to revive her flagging career, but still staggered through her first Grand Prix appearance of the season, falling once in the short program and twice in the long program (where she placed ninth of 11) to take eighth overall, her worst finish ever (by two places) in a Grand Prix event.

Hughes, a Harvard sophomore, was painfully poor Friday and Saturday at the Bompart Trophy Grand Prix event in Paris. She finished ninth in a 10-woman field that featured only two highly ranked skaters, reigning world champion Mao Asada of Japan and Joannie Rochette of Canada.

One fall in the short program. Three in the free skate. Twenty points behind fourth finisher Candice Didier of France, who was 38th at the 2008 worlds.

And this for Hughes on a day when everyone other than Caroline Zhang of the United States and Rochette made major contributions to another of the error-filled slopfests that have become de riguer in skating.

Rochette, who had fallen in the short program, got through the free skate with only a popped triple loop marring a performance that rightfully made her an easy winner for the second time in her two Grand Prix events this season, with 180.73 points to 167.59 for Asada, 156.54 for Zhang –- and 115.48 for Hughes.

Asada made about 7 million mistakes -– a fall, popped jumps, two-footed landings and a high yuck level.
Zhang appeared to have been nearly clean.

For what it is worth, Zhang stayed upright in both programs, the only one of the top five to do that.
Emily Hughes was in free fall.

-- Phillip Hersh

Photo (top): Emily Hughes falls during her ladies short program during the Eric Bompard Trophy Figure Skating Grand Prix in Paris on Friday. Credit: Francois Mori / Associated Press

Photo (inset): Kimmie Meissner. Credit: Robert Duyos / Sun Sentinel