Taking an olympic dream out for a spin.

• Position: Kimmie Meissner, skater - Interview

When Kimmie Meissner, 16, of Bel Air, Md., won the bronze medal at the 2005 State Farm U.S. Figure Skating Championships, she became the first woman to land a triple axel in 14 years. Now she hopes to skate her way to the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy, in February. Scholastic talked to the Fallston High School junior about being on the ice.

So what is a triple axel, anyway?

It's a pretty hard jump that most women don't usually do, but it's starting to be done a lot now by women. It's three-and-a-half rotations and it kicks off on your left foot and you land on your right.

How do you find time to train so rigorously and be a student?

Sometimes it can be hard, especially when I go away to a competition. I have a lot of...