SPOKANE, Wash. — Rachael Flatt, the skater who brought the term “scholar-athlete” to new levels, is going on the best field trip of them all — the 2010 Winter Olympics.
“I’m still shaking,” said Colorado Springs’ Flatt to TV cameras after the top-scoring performance of her life.
Flatt, third after the short program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, skated a near-flawless free skate to score a career-high 200.11 total and win her first senior national title.
Mirai Nagasu, 16, leader after the short program and the night’s final skater, was second with 188.78 points and secured the second Olympic team spot.
Ashley Wagner, who skated the most crowd-pleasing program, was third with 184.70. Sasha Cohen, a 2006 Olympic silver medalist and skating in competition for the first time since 2006, was fourth with 174.28 points after falling on a triple flip.
The U.S. qualified just two skaters, instead of the usual three, to the Olympics for only the second time since 1924.
When Flatt finished her long program, she knew she had done something special. She put both hands on her head and turned her face to the roof, smiling.
“It was a great feeling,” Flatt said. “I think as I went through the program, I continued to get stronger. Right before my triple loop I felt a little weak and just decided to push through it.”
Flatt, a senior at Cheyenne Mountain High, landed seven triples and was the only one in the top group to land a triple-triple combination.
“I think the most important thing for me was just taking the speed that I had gained throughout the program and continuing, and improving upon it,” Flatt said. “It was a good program, but I still have things to work on.”
Flatt placed fifth in last season’s world championships and was second twice at nationals. Yet she was overshadowed in this competition by Cohen, a crowd darling who fell short in an otherwise remarkable comeback to competition after a four-year absence.
“I was disappointed with my free skate,” Cohen said. “It wasn’t what I was looking for, but I still enjoyed being out there and performing for the audience.”
Known as the steadiest, if not most spectacular, skater in the field, Flatt showed grace under pressure. Just one point separated the top three skaters going into Saturday’s free skate.
“It is stressful, I have to admit it,” she said.
Flatt, 17, became the first Broadmoor Skating Club senior ladies skater to make an Olympic team since 1988, when Jill Trenary and Caryn Kadavy qualified for Calgary.
Flatt’s coach at the Broadmoor, Tom Zakrajsek, finally got himself an Olympian. Last week, another Broadmoor skater coached by Zakrajsek, Ryan Bradley, was fourth, missing the Olympic team by one spot.
On Friday, Flatt, a straight-A student, was one of 10 skaters honored as elite scholar-athletes by the U.S. Figure Skating Association.
The emphasis on scholastics undoubtedly starts at home in Colorado Springs.
Her mom, Jody, is a retired biotech scientist. Her, father, Jim, has a Ph.D. in chemical engineering and heads a biofuels company. Both parents were in Spokane, along with grandfather Horace Flatt, who made the trip from Terrell, Texas.
Flatt has said if she made the Olympic team, she would participate in the opening ceremony, then fly back home to attend high school classes until the skating competition gets underway during the second half of the Games.
Earlier, Meryl Davis and Charlie White won their second ice dance title, upsetting Olympic and world silver medalists Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto. Emily Samuelson and Evan Bates were third, likely clinching a spot on the Olympic team.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
