Athletes - Linda Fratianne

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	Athletes - Linda Fratianne

Linda Sue Fratianne (born August 2, 1960 in Los Angeles-Northridge, California, USA) was an American Olympic figure skater, who won four consecutive U.S. Championships (1977-1980).

Early career

Linda Fratianne's father was the former Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert Fratianne (died 2002). Her mother was Virginia Fratianne. The parents were divorced.

Throughout her figure skating career, she was coached by Frank Carroll, who later became the long-time coach of Michelle Kwan. 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.

Olympics

In 1979, Linda Fratianne was able to regain her world title, which she had lost to Anett Pötzsch in 1978 in Ottawa, Canada. At the 1980 Winter Olympics, Linda Fratianne placed third in the compulsory figures yet she was flawless in the short and free programs. Despite the unclean short program and weaker free skate, but still including a triple jump (Salchow), excellent footwork and spins by Anett Pötzsch, the judges placed Linda Fratianne second, prompting accusations of unfair judging against the Eastern-bloc judges. The judges 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

The notes of the substitute judge were not used. With judges from East Germany and Yugoslavia there were only two out of nine Eastern-bloc judges, hardly a majority. However to win, the majority of the judges was needed. Only the judges from Japan and the USA placed Linda Fratianne first. All others placed Anett Pötzsch first mainly due to the outcome of the compulsory figures.

At the 1980 Olympics the free program was won by Denise Biellmann (Switzerland). At the following world championships Linda Fratianne came only in 3rd position, behind Anett Pötzsch and Dagmar Lurz from West-Germany.

Aftermath

In 1981 the judging system in figure skating was modified and the importance of the compulsory figures was reduced. 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 and other touring ice shows.

Fratianne was particularly known for her ability to easily and beautifully complete difficult triple jumps, and 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.

While Fratianne was one of the first female skaters to consistently complete well-executed triple jumps, she is perhaps better remembered for setting the fashion for female skaters to wear costumes dripping with beads, sequins, and chiffon, although she was criticized at the time for dressing more like a Las Vegas showgirl than an athlete.

In 1993 Linda Fratianne was inducted into the United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame.

Linda Fratianne lives in Idaho now. She currently coaches in Sun Valley, Idaho. She has a daughter named Ali Maricich.

Competitive highlights

1975

U.S Championships - 7th

1976

U.S Championships - 2nd
Olympics - 8th

1977

U.S. Championships - 1st
World Championships - 1st

1978

U.S. Championships - 1st

1979

U.S. Championships - 1st
World Championships - 1st

1980

U.S. Championships - 1st
Olympics - 2nd
World Championships - 3rd

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Linda Fratianne ]

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