Rachael Flatt

Rachael Flatt
Flatt at the 2011 Rostelecom Cup.
Personal information
Full name	Rachael Elizabeth Flatt
Country represented	United States
Born	(1992-07-21) July 21, 1992 Del Mar, California
Residence	Stanford, California
Height	1.58 m (5 ft 2 in)
Former partner	Andrew Speroff
Coach	Justin Dillon, Lynn Smith
Former coach	Tom Zakrajsek, Becky Calvin, Erik Schulz, Eddie Shipstad, Suzie Semanick, Tiffany Mayes, C. Sullivan, R. Chalmers
Choreographer	Lori Nichol
Skating club	St. Moritz FSC
Former skating club	Broadmoor SC
Training locations	San Jose, California
Former training locations	Colorado Springs, Colorado
Began skating	1996
Season's bests	38 (2011–2012)[1] 8 (2010–2011)[2] 7 (2009–2010)[3] 7 (2008–2009)[4]
ISU personal best scores
Combined total	182.49 2010 Winter Olympics
Short program	64.64 2010 Winter Olympics
Free skate	118.08 2011 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships
Medal record Competitor for the  United States Ladies' singles Figure Skating World Junior Championships Gold 2008 Sofia Ladies' singles Junior Grand Prix Final Silver 2007–2008 Gdansk Ladies' singles

Rachael Elizabeth Flatt (born July 21, 1992) is an American figure skater. She is the 2010 U.S. national champion, 2008, 2009 and 2011 national silver medalist, and 2008 World Junior Champion.

At the 2010 U.S. Championships, she was nominated to represent the United States at the 2010 Winter Olympics and placed 7th.^[5]

Personal life

Flatt was born in Del Mar, California. She is an only child.^[6] Her father is a biochemical engineer and her mother a molecular biologist.^[7][8] Her grandfather competed on the national level in fencing. She is a 2010 graduate of Cheyenne Mountain High School in Colorado Springs, Colorado.^[6] Flatt attends Stanford University, class of 2015, and is majoring in biology, with a minor in psychology, with an interest in pursuing medicine.^[6][9] She currently resides in Palo Alto, California, and she trains in the Bay Area.

Career

Flatt began skating at age four.^[10] In addition to her singles career, Flatt also competed as a pair skater from 2001 to 2004 with partner Andrew Speroff.^[11] The pair won the silver medal at Nationals on the juvenile level in 2003 and the intermediate title in 2004.

Competing in ladies' singles, Flatt won the US Novice national title in 2005 at age 12. While, under other circumstances, this would have earned her an event on the Junior Grand Prix for the following season, Flatt was three weeks too young to compete internationally as a junior. She was invited to compete at the 2005 Triglav Trophy event in Slovenia, where she won the Novice competition. Later in 2005, Flatt was invited to compete at the 2005 North American Challenge competition as a junior lady, where she won the bronze medal. Flatt won the silver medal at US Nationals at the junior level in 2006.

2006–2007 season

Flatt missed the 2006–2007 ISU Junior Grand Prix season due to injury, but qualified through the regional and sectional qualifying competitions, winning both, and made her senior debut at the 2007 U.S. Championships, where she placed 5th and earned a bye to the 2008 U.S. Championships. Flatt made her international debut as a junior in March 2007 at the International Challenge Cup, which she won. Flatt was often referred to as "Rachael the Rock" and was often called " The Consistency Queen" because of her ability to compete cleanly, landing up to seven triples in a freeskate, including her triple-triple combinations. ^[12]

2007–2008 season

Flatt competed on the Junior Grand Prix for the first time in the 2007–2008 season, winning the gold medal at her first JGP in Vienna, Austria, and a silver medal at her second JGP in Chemnitz, Germany. She qualified for the Junior Grand Prix Final, placing third in the short program, first in the free skate, and winning the silver medal. At the 2008 Nationals in St Paul, Minnesota, she won the silver medal on the senior level after winning the free skate. Too young to be eligible for the senior Worlds, Flatt was placed on the team to the 2008 World Junior Championships. After placing third in the short program, she won the free skate and won the title overall. The American ladies swept the podium: Flatt, Zhang and Nagasu. ^[13]

2008–2009 season

Flatt began the 2008–2009 season at the 2008 Skate America, where she placed fourth overall. She also competed at 2008 Cup of Russia, winning the silver medal behind Carolina Kostner of Italy.^[14] Flatt won the silver medal at the 2009 U.S. Championships. World Championships.

2009–2010 season

In 2009–2010, Flatt won silver at the 2009 Skate America and finished 4th at 2009 Cup of China. She placed ahead of later Olympic champion Yuna Kim in the long program at Skate America.^[15] She won the 2010 U.S. Championships. At the 2010 Winter Olympics, Flatt placed 7th with 182.49 points. She placed ninth at Worlds.

2011–2012 season

Flatt won a silver medal at the 2011 U.S. Championships.^[16][17] She was sent to the 2011 World Championships. A week before the event, Flatt was diagnosed with a stress fracture in her right tibia (her landing leg).^[18] Nevertheless, her coach Tom Zakrajsek stated that he felt that Flatt could complete her elements despite the stress fracture and did not request that the alternate, Mirai Nagasu, compete in her place.^[19] During the competition, Flatt botched one of her jumps in the short program and three in the free skate and finished in 12th place. In May 2011, Flatt confirmed that she was leaving Colorado Springs in order to study chemical engineering at Stanford University and would look for a new coach in the Bay Area.^[20] In June 2011, U.S. Figure Skating reprimanded and fined Flatt for not informing them of her injury in advance.^[21] On August 19, 2011, she announced that she would be working with Justin Dillon and Lynn Smith in Oakland, California.^[7][22] She also spent some time training with Sergei Ponomarenko in San Jose and Charlie Tickner in Redwood City.^[6][7] Flatt was 10th at 2011 Skate Canada International.^[23] Before leaving for Rostelecom Cup, she sprained ligaments around her ankle joint and finished 9th at the event.^[24] Flatt said she would spend her holiday break in Colorado Springs working with Tom Zakrajsek and Becky Calvin.^[24] She competed at the 2012 U.S. Championships and placed sixth.

2012–2013 season

Flatt finished ninth at the 2012 Skate America.^[25] On October 30, 2012, Flatt said she would miss the rest of the season due to the recurrence of an injury in her right lower leg and ankle.^[26]

2013–2014 season

Flatt completed the first step in qualifying for nationals by winning the 2014 Central Pacific Regionals. She placed first in both the short and the long with an overall score of 139.48.^[27] This was her first step in attempting to make her second Olympic team.^[28] She placed 18th at the 2014 U.S. Championships. She later announced her retirement from competitive skating. ^[29]

Endorsements and public life

Flatt has signed an endorsement deal with AT&T, the Colorado Potato Administrative Committee (CPAC) and she is a spokesperson for Reading Is Fundamental,^[8][30] as well as the US Anti-Doping Agency.

Programs

Flatt performs her One Day I'll Fly Away exhibition at the 2009 World Team Trophy.

Competitive highlights

Single skating

Pair skating with Speroff

Detailed results

The ladies medalists at the 2008 World Junior Championships display the United States flag during the medals ceremony.

• QR = Qualifying round
• Personal bests under ISU highlighted in bold

References

• 2005 Southwestern Regional Championships at the United States Figure Skating Association
• 2005 Midwestern Sectional Championships at the United States Figure Skating Association
• 2006 Southwestern Regional Championships at the United States Figure Skating Association
• 2006 Midwestern Sectional Championships at the United States Figure Skating Association
• 2007 Southwestern Regional Championships at the United States Figure Skating Association
• 2007 Midwestern Sectional Championships at the United States Figure Skating Association

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rachael Flatt.

• Official site
• Rachael Flatt at the International Skating Union
• Rachael Flatt at the United States Figure Skating Association
• Rachael Flatt at the United States Olympic Committee