Rachael Flatt is a retired American figure skater and current student at Stanford University. She is the 2010 U.S. national champion, 2008, 2009 and 2011 national silver medalist, and 2008 World Junior Champion. At the 2010 Winter Olympics she placed 7th.

Here, Flatt discusses the character traits of great coaches she appreciated as an individual athlete. In addition to their being motivated and organized, Flatt's favorite coaches took into account who she was and what she valued as a person. They understood technical aspects of the sport, and more importantly they imparted life lessons. Flatt encourages individual athletes who are able to pick their coaches to find those who see greater goals than a score, and who help develop athletes as people beyond their sports.