Jody Flatt On Raising An Olympian
There were the 4:30 a.m. wake-up calls for morning practice before school, the 38,000 miles put on the Jeep traveling back and forth to the training center, the $50,000-plus annual cost, the cross-country commute of her father from his job in Baltimore and his home in Colorado Springs.
But through it all, Rachael Flatt, the 17-year-old U.S. Ladies’ National figure skating champion and Vancouver Olympian, has lived a somewhat normal life. And for that, she can thank her mother, Jody.
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Too often in the world of sports we hear of the “backstage” parent. Marv Marinovich never let his quarterback son Todd eat a Big Mac during high school in his quest to somehow engineer his son into becoming the next Joe Montana. Perhaps predictably, when Todd was finally a man with freedom, he rebelled, abused drugs and ruined what could have been a promising NFL career. Then there’s the infamous Jim Pierce, father of tennis player Mary Pierce, who physically and verbally abused his daughter and was eventually banned from attending WTA events. Sadly, the 2010 Olympics have provided yet another example of the driven sports parent gone mad. The best U.S. skier, Lindsey Vonn, has not spoken to her domineering father in four years.
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All of this makes the Flatts story such a refreshing one. Jody and her husband, Jim, have raised an Olympian elegantly and with humility, with their priorities seemingly straight.
Growing Up
Jody and Jim were living in Del Mar, Calif., when Rachael was born. Both were working in the biotech sector. Rachael first started skating at age 3, and began to demonstrate a flair for the sport during lessons at age 4.
“Jim and I always laugh because we always said we’d never leave our hometown for her skating and never send her off somewhere else,” says Jody. “We had a lesson in ‘be careful for what you don’t wish for.’”
Vancouver 2010
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Submited at Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 at 8:00 am on Sports by fenny
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