Linda Fratianne

Linda Sue Fratianne (born August 2, 1960) is an American former figure skater known for winning two World Championship titles (1977, 1979), four consecutive U.S. Championships (1977–1980), and a silver medal in the 1980 Winter Olympics.

Linda Fratianne
Fratianne in 1979
Personal information
Country representedUnited States
Born (1960-08-02) August 2, 1960[1]
Northridge, California, U.S.[1]
Height153 cm (5 ft 0 in)[1]
Former coachFrank Carroll[2]
Skating clubLAFSC[1]
Retired1980
Medal record
Ladies' figure skating
Representing the  United States
Olympic Games
1980 Lake Placid Singles
World Championships
1980 DortmundSingles
1979 ViennaSingles
1978 OttawaSingles
1977 TokyoSingles

Personal life

Fratianne was married to ski racer Nick Maricich.[3]

Career

Throughout her figure skating career, Fratianne was coached by Frank Carroll.

Fratianne became the first female skater to land two different types of triple jumps (toe loop and salchow) in her free skating programs in 1976 at the U.S. National Championships. At the World Figure Skating Championship in Tokyo, Japan in 1977, she won her first world title by upsetting the favorite going into the Championship: East Germany's Anett Pötzsch. Although Fratianne fell on her triple salchow jump in her free skating routine, the judges considered she was better overall than Pötzsch.

In 1979, Fratianne was able to regain her world title, which she had lost to Pötzsch in 1978 in Ottawa, Canada.

Her chief rivals were Anett Pötzsch (East Germany), Emi Watanabe (Japan), and Dagmar Lurz (West Germany). Like Watanabe, her compulsory figures were significantly weaker than her free skating; consequently, she frequently placed well below Pötzsch and Lurz in the compulsories, forcing her to attempt to overcome her deficiencies through strong short and free programs. In the short and free programs, Fratianne never placed lower than Pötzsch or Lurz between 1977 and 1980 in any competition. However, since the rules at the time placed much weight on compulsory figures, she was only able to win a major title twice.

At the 1980 Winter Olympics, Fratianne placed third in the compulsory figures, first in the short program, and second in the free skate to place second overall, while Pötzsch took the gold with 1st in figures, 4th in the short program, and 3rd in the free skate. There have been persistent allegations that Fratianne was "robbed" of the gold medal by a conspiracy among Eastern-bloc judges, but in fact only two of the nine judges on the panel were from Eastern-bloc countries and only the judges from Japan and the USA placed Fratianne first. All others placed Pötzsch first, mainly due to her substantial lead in the compulsory figures.[4]

Judging
Anett Pötzsch Linda Fratianne
Compulsory Figures 46.04 points 9 places 1st rank 42.76 points 27 places 3rd rank
Short Program 39.76 points 37 places 4th rank 41.44 points 11 places 1st rank
Free Program 103.20 points 24 places 3rd rank 104.10 points 17 places 2nd rank
Total 189.00 points 11 places 1st rank 188.30 points 16 places 2nd rank
Fratianne in 1980

After the 1980 Winter Games, Fratianne turned professional and, at the 1980 world championships, won the bronze medal behind Anett Pötzsch and Dagmar Lurz from West Germany.[1]

In 1981, the scoring system in figure skating was modified to combine the results of the compulsory figures, short program, and free skating by adding placements instead of carrying over raw scores. This made it less likely that skaters could build up a huge lead in the compulsory figures. This decision was made long before the 1980 Winter Olympics.

After the 1980 season, Fratianne retired from competitive skating and performed in touring shows, including ten years as a lead skater of Disney on Ice. In 1993, she was inducted into the United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame.[5]

Results
International
Event 73–74 74–75 75–76 76–77 77–78 78–79 79–80
Winter Olympics8th2nd
World Championships5th1st2nd1st3rd
Skate Canada1st
NHK Trophy2nd
Richmond Trophy3rd
St. Ivel International1st
St. Gervais1st
Nebelhorn Trophy2nd
National
U.S. Championships7th2nd1st1st1st1st
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References
  1. Linda Fratianne. sports-reference.com
  2. Hersh, Philip (August 3, 2018) Frank Carroll: At 80, he retires from a "frozen life" of transcendent coaching success in figure skating. Globetrotting
  3. Olympic Medalist Linda Fratianne Engaged. Associated Press. February 25, 1987
  4. Figure Skating at the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Games: Women's Singles. sports-reference.com
  5. U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame Members. United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame
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