Figure skater may be next Girdwood Olympian

Another Girdwood resident is chomping at Rosey Fletcher’s heels to become the next great Olympian from Glacier City; only this athlete doesn’t catch air on boards or skis.
Keegan Messing, a 15-year-old phenomenon and lifelong Girdwood resident, has been shredding ice a bit differently than most athletes around town. Instead of catching air on Mt. Alyeska, Messing goes for the vertical at the Subway Sports Complex in South Anchorage. There, he practices about three hours a day for his almost-certain professional career in winter sports.
Sure, he skis during the winter, just like everyone else in town. In fact, that’s how he got his nickname, “Kamikaze,” when he was much younger. He also bikes down the slopes during the summer, just like other kids growing up in Glacier City.
But Messing’s talent shines forth on the ice rink, not on the alpine slopes. He could become the “Great White Hope” for an Olympic medal in men’s figure skating for the United States, and Alaska’s first.
Keegan Messing recently competed in the State Farm U.S. Championships in Washington, where he walked away with a bronze medal, after winning the free skate portion of the program. Messing was 14 years old at the time and the youngest competitor on the podium.
Messing has been skating since he was 2 years old, and competing since he was four.
“Keegan’s first competition was with the Ice Skating Institute (ISI) when he was four in Soldotna,” said his mother, Sally Messing.
Within a few years, Messing was competing in the U.S. Figure Skating Asso-ciation. The USFA is for serious competitors, said his coach, Austrian Ralph Burghart, who has been training Messing for the last nine years.
Since his first Top of the World figure skating competition in the USFA nine years ago, Messing has performed in between five and seven competitions each year.
“We have to travel outside a lot because no one is at Keegan’s level here,” said Sally Messing.
Messing practices at least three hours every day at the Subway Sports Complex, where Sally also works. First he goes through his warm-up session, and then proceeds to work on the elements of his programs. These include all the fancy footwork figure skating enthusiasts enjoy watching in the championships and the Olympics: the triple lutzes and axles, double toes, Salchow doubles and triples and triple-double loops.
Technique and precision are crucial in figure skating, and Messing’s slight build – he’s just shy of five feet tall and under 100 pounds – help him better control his movement on the ice. Messing’s favorite element is the triple axle, which virtually no one else at his age can perform. According to his coach, Messing was the first novice to land a triple axle in competition.
Coach Burghart, himself a seven-time national champion in Austria and competitor in the 1992 Winter Olympic Games in Albertville, France, says Messing works best under the pressure and glare of thousands of fans.
“I pressure him to feel as if he is going to competition all the time, and I get more out of him this way,” he said. “Everything with Keegan is always full blast.”
This is perfect for both coach and athlete. Many figure skaters perform well in training and practice, Burghart said, only to buckle under the pressure of performing in front of judges and audiences. While other skaters may claim discipline or technique as their favorite aspects of the sport, Burghart and Messing agree: Alaska’s best men’s figure skater likes it under the lights, with adrenaline-pumping music and clapping fans.
Messing’s choreographer is Burghart’s wife Rory, who is “the best,” according to Messing and his fellow Anchorage-area figure skaters. He performs to such show-stopping music as “The Pirates of the Caribbean” soundtrack and Mannheim Steamroller, plays into Messing’s strength as a technical skater.
His jumps are the highest. His rotations are fluid. His smile is contagious and his work ethic is impeccable, said Coach Burghart.
“Keegan likes being in the air – it’s the safest place he can be,” said Burghart, who doesn’t like the anecdotal stories Messing tells of falling on bikes during the summer or concussions from skiing this past winter.
Messing’s favorite skater is three-time world champion Elvis Stojko from Canada. Stojko too was a technical skater, who wowed audiences with athletic prowess and attention to technique.
Girdwood’s up and coming star figure skater plans on following in his idol’s footsteps, and both coach and athlete agree that after competing at next month’s Gardenia International Junior Grande Prixe in Italy, attention will be focused on qualifying for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver.
“There are only two or three skaters in the world performing at his age and with his level,” said Coach Burghart.
Those interested in seeing Messing skate here in Alaska have the opportunity this month. He will be a featured performer at Fur Rondy on Ice. Catch his show on Friday, Feb. 23, at 8 p.m.; Saturday, Feb. 24, at 2 p.m. or 6 p.m.; or Sunday, Feb. 25, at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. All performances will be at the University of Alaska Anchorage Wells Fargo Sports Complex off Providence Drive and Seawolf Drive in Anchorage.

Local Girdwood figure skater Keegan Messing show his style at the US Championships in Washington where he won the bronze medal.

Photo courtesy of the Messing family