COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- When Tom Zakrajsek studies his star pupil, he notices someone different, a more mature, more refined figure skater capable of showcasing her skills at a much higher level.
"I know you need me less," Zakrajsek told Rachael Flatt. "It's OK. It's a good thing."
The Broadmoor Skating Club member is rapidly transforming, motivated by momentum from her first national title and a successful Olympic debut, as well as an opportunity to compete without the burden of school, since she has deferred admission to Stanford.
Flatt, 18, recently added a triple lutz-triple loop combination, one of the most technically demanding maneuvers in women's figure skating, to short and long programs that allow her to act more expressively, in the mold of a seasoned competitor on the senior circuit.
She partook in a U.S. Figure Skating camp last month at World Arena, and she'll perform next week at the Colorado Springs Invitational at Sertich Ice Center, maybe her last tune-up for Grand Prix Series legs in October in Nagoya, Japan, and in November in Portland, Ore. She goes for her fourth U.S. Championships medal in January in Greensboro, N.C.
"I'm a lot more experienced now, so that is a huge confidence boost," said Flatt, whose summer included a two-week vacation in Italy, a reward for graduating with honors from Cheyenne Mountain High School and getting into Stanford, where she'll start next fall.
An uplifting collection of short-program music ("Summertime" by George Gershwin and "Oh, But On the Third Day/Happy Feet Blues" by Wynton Marsalis and Marcus Roberts) makes Flatt perhaps more appealing than she was at the Vancouver Games in February, when she finished seventh, despite two downgraded triple flips in her free skate.
Flatt calls the beginning of her short "a little bit more romantic and seductive." Then after the theme changes, she's vaulted into the middle of a New Orleans parade, and she's able to "have basically a party. ... It's a lot of fun, high energy. I just get to bounce around."
Her long program ("Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" by Richard Rodgers and Earl Wild) has "a good storyline, where it's very romantic," Flatt said. "But at the same time, there's the gunshot, and we use that in the music. We keep the plot rolling." Flatt likes the "fun, kind of silly parts" and the fact that it's "very character-driven, which is a really nice change."
"It's good to continue to challenge myself," Flatt said.
Zakrajsek believes the triple lutz-triple loop is the biggest challenge for Flatt, considering the combination follows a double axel-triple toe in her long program. He said she's "learning how to control her body more and get it accomplished, so it's as consistent as her other jumps. . . . It's a difficult combination. That's why so few women in the world do it."
In looking at all of Flatt's adjustments, Zakrajsek can't deny the improved product.
"She's becoming a young woman, and you see that in how she moves," he said. "She's very comfortable, she has a lot more command of the ice, just because she's growing up."
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