"That was the best I could do right now, and I did it. It's great to come back after some hard performances and skate like that."

Meissner sits ninth after the short program but is just 3.85 points out of third place. The other two American ladies competing here, Bebe Liang and Ashley Wagner, also had solid shorts and are in 10th and 11th place, respectively.

Meissner, the 2006 world champion, was the final competitor of the ladies short program, a 53-skater event that spanned six hours (just 24 ladies will perform in the free skate).

"It was a lot better than having to follow Mao [Asada] at the Tokyo worlds last year," Meissner said, alluding to her short program performance at Tokyo's Metropolitan Gymnasium in front of 7,000 of the Japanese champion's adoring fans.

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Two years ago, when she was 16, the American was the toast of the figure skating world, captivating fans and judges with a combination of daring athleticism and girlish charm to claim the 2006 world title.

This week, it will be a somewhat less effervescent Meissner stepping on to the ice in Gothenburg, Sweden, for the world championships, her crowns gone along with her confidence, buried under a string of stunningly poor performances.

In a sport increasingly dominated by younger skaters, there are already whispers that Meissner's time has come and gone.

Last March, she surrendered her world title to Japan's Miki Ando and in January she stumbled to an embarrassing seventh place at the U.S. Nationals while 14-year-old Mirai Nagasu skated away with her crown.

"Obviously I haven't had the best couple of competitions. I'm just trying to work on getting my confidence level back up and really feeling consistent with my jumps and program," Meissner told reporters during a conference call ahead of the championships, which were opening on Tuesday.

"I'm just trying to get in a good state of mind so I can go out there and perform the way I would like to. I know I can do better."

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