Four years have passed since Kimmie Meissner skated for Olympic glory, capturing Harford County’s attention and undying adoration.

On the eve another Winter Olympics, one in which she had hoped to vie for the medal that eluded her in 2006, Meissner is still focused and busy with a variety of activities; however, the only Olympics she’ll see this year will be on television.

Meissner was just 16 at the 2006 Torino Winter Olympics, where she glided to a sixth overall finish in women’s figure skating. She returned amid tremendous fanfare to her beloved hometown of Bel Air, where a downtown street was renamed in her honor.

One month later, the Harford County hero charmed her hometown all over again by winning the figure skating World Championship in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. She won the United States championship a year later.

With all eyes now turned to Vancouver, British Columbia, where the 2010 Winter Olympics officially begin next Friday, Meissner can only watch.

She was hoping to be skating in Vancouver, but she has repeatedly encountered injuries and illnesses the past two years.

In 2008, she came down with mononucleosis, which affected her performance at two key Grand Prix events. In January 2009, she hurt her right hip.

“That didn’t take too long to heal and I was able to go on tour with Stars on Ice,” Meissner said in a phone interview earlier this week.

Then, late last year, an unexpected and unfortunate injury sidelined Meissner for the rest of the season.

“I was training for the upcoming season and I was working on my triple axel and I came down on my knee and dislocated my kneecap,” Meissner explained. “I got tendinitis as a result of it.”

Though she underwent extensive physical therapy, a delayed recovery forced her to pull out of competition in the 2009 International Skating Union Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series, thereby ending her road to Vancouver.

“I figured it would just go away, but obviously, it was a lot more serious than I thought,” she said.

The disappointing announcement came in early October when Meissner released this official statement: “For the United States to be represented properly, especially during an Olympic year, I feel I must put my personal desire to compete aside.”

She returned to Bel Air from her Florida training home to continue her physical therapy, a decision that was undoubtedly disheartening for the figure skater and her fans.

Though the Olympics aren’t in the near future for Meissner, she hasn’t relinquished her dreams quite yet. She skates every day at Ice World in Abingdon, working on Mondays and Fridays with Chris Conte, a trainer who choreographed many of her shows.

“I am still doing my exercises and only do a certain amount, only certain jumps,” she said. “I have to come back smart.”

Meissner continues to skate in local shows in town and across the United States, even participating in made-for-TV programs. Recently, she skated with former Olympic champion Scott Hamilton in a show at Lake Placid, N.Y.

She hasn’t decided whether she will return to the competition circuit.

“I am not sure yet what I want to do,” Meissner admitted. “It’s hard to make a decision.”

Off the ice, Meissner is busy being a normal young adult. She works as an aide at The Arena Club in Bel Air. She is also entering her second year of college, taking classes part-time at the University of Delaware which begin next week.

“I am finally a sophomore,” she said, laughing. “It will be busy but it will be worth it.”

She plans on majoring in exercise science.

She also uses a lot of her spare time helping others, working with the Cool Kids Campaign, an organization she co-founded which helps pediatric oncology patients and their families.

“The next big thing is a Cool Kids [Learning] Center, a place [for kids] to go and socialize,” Meissner said about plans to construct a facility somewhere in Baltimore in the future.

Last Saturday, Meissner participated in the annual Polar Bear Plunge sponsored by the Maryland State Police, which raises money to benefit the Special Olympics.

Along with other local celebrities, such as Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco, Meissner braved the 15-degree temperatures and plunged into the Chesapeake Bay at Sandy Point State Park.

“It was great, but man was it cold,” she said.

When asked if she plans to watch the Olympics this year, Meissner answered with a fervent, “yes!”

“I am really proud of our entire U.S. team,” she said. “They are young and I think they can do well.”

Though she misses the excitement she felt in Torino, Meissner is content to take it easy, at least for now.

“I miss competing,” she said, “but I have to come back smart.”

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