Linda Fratianne
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| Olympic medal record | |||
| Figure skating | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Silver | 1980 Lake Placid | Ladies' singles | |
| Personal Info | ||
|---|---|---|
| Country: |  United States |
|
| Date of birth: | August 2, 1960 | |
| Former Coach: | Frank Carroll | |
| Retired: | 1980 | |
| ISU Personal Best Scores | ||
Linda Sue Fratianne (born August 2, 1960 in Los Angeles-Northridge, California, U.S.) was an American Olympic figure skater, who won four consecutive U.S. Championships (1977-1980).
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[edit] Early career
Linda Fratianne's father was the former Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert Fratianne (died 2002). Her mother was Virginia Fratianne. Her parents were divorced.
Throughout her figure skating career, she was coached by Frank Carroll.
Fratianne was particularly known for her ability to complete difficult triple jumps with ease and beauty. She 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. Her strong free skating technique complemented her elegant style, which made her the best overall American skater of the period.
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. This victory was attributed to the combination of solid jumping skills, strong basic skating skills, and exceptional artistry. In fact, Fratianne fell on her triple toe loop jump in her free skating routine, but these positive qualities were significant enough to prompt the judges to place her above Pötzsch.
In 1979, Linda 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 fact, Fratianne never placed lower than Pötzsch or Lurz between 1977 and 1980 in short or free programs at any of the competitions, yet she was only able to win the major competitions twice. This is largely because the rules then placed much weight on compulsory figures.
In addition to her skating skills, Fratianne was also known for her costumes throughout her career. Many believe that Fratianne has been responsible for setting the current fashion trend for female skaters, dripping with beads, sequins, and chiffon.
[edit] Olympics
At the 1980 Winter Olympics, Linda Fratianne placed third in the compulsory figures, first in the short program, and first in the free skate to place second overall, while Pötzsch took the gold with 1st in figures, 5th in the short program, and 3rd in the free skate. Most observers believed Fratianne won the gold medal, and this ranked as one of the more controversial decisions in Olympic history, and ultimately led to the elimination of compulsory (or school) figures from the competition.
The outcome of the Olympic competition remains controversial even decades later. 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.
The officials were:
- Wolfgang Kunz (FRG=West Germany)
- Ludwig Gassner (Austria)
- Kinuko Ueno (Japan)
- Charles U. Foster (USA)
- Radovan Lipovscak (Yugoslavia)
- Leena Vainio (Finland)
- Giorgio Siniscialcio (Italy)
- Ingird Linke (GDR=East Germany)
- Markus Germann (Switzerland)
- substitute judge was Sergei Kononykhin (Soviet Union)
- referee: Benjamin T. Wright (USA)
- assistant referee: Donald H. Gilchrist
| 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 | 37places | 4th rank | 41.44 points | 11 places | 1st rank |
| Free Program | 103.20 points | 24 places | 3rd rank | 104.10 points | 17places | 1st rank |
| Total | 189.00 points | 11 places | 1st rank | 188.30 points | 16 places | 2nd rank |
At the following world championships Linda Fratianne came in 3rd behind Anett Pötzsch and Dagmar Lurz from West Germany.
[edit] Aftermath
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, Linda Fratianne turned professional and enjoyed a long career performing as the lead skater of Disney on Ice (for 10 years) and other touring ice shows. In 1993 Linda Fratianne was inducted into the United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame.
From 1988 to 2001 she was married to ski racer Nick Maricich. They have a daughter, Ali (b. 1991).
Linda Fratianne currently lives and coaches in Sun Valley, Idaho.
[edit] Competitive highlights
| Event/Season | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 |
| U.S. Championships | 7th | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st |
| World Championships | - | - | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 3rd |
| Winter Olympics | - | 8th | - | - | - | 2nd |
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