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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.
After the 1980 Winter Games, Fratianne turned professional and, at the 1980 world championships, won the bronze medal behind Anett Pötzsch and U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame Members
United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame
Linda Fratianne
IMDb
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fratianne, Linda 1960 births American female single skaters American people of Italian descent Figure skaters at the 1976 Winter Olympics Figure skaters at the 1980 Winter Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in figure skating Living people Olympic medalists in figure skating World Figure Skating Championships medalists Medalists at the 1980 Winter Olympics 21st-century American women
Personal life
Fratianne was married to ski racer Nick Maricich.Career
Throughout her figure skating career, Fratianne was coached by Frank Carroll. She remained loyal whilst other switched to get a better deal. Fratianne became the first female skater to land two different types of triple jumps (toe loop
The toe loop jump is the simplest jump in the sport of figure skating. It was invented in the 1920s by American professional figure skater Bruce Mapes. The toe loop is accomplished with a forward approach on the inside edge of the blade; the ska ...
and Salchow) in her free skating programs in 1976 at the U.S. National Championships. She might have been beaten by Barbie Smith who landed a triple but Carroll was aware of her abilities and he required that Fratiianne should land two triples. This pushed Smith into second place and Fratianne took the gold.
At the World Figure Skating Championship in Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...
, Japan in 1977, Fratianne won her first world title by upsetting the favorite going into the Championship: East Germany's Anett Pötzsch
Anett Pötzsch (later Witt, now Rauschenbach, born 3 September 1960) is a German former figure skater. She is the 1980 Olympic champion, two-time World champion (1978, 1980), four-time European champion (1977–1980), and five-time East Ger ...
. 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
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
.
Her chief rivals were Anett Pötzsch
Anett Pötzsch (later Witt, now Rauschenbach, born 3 September 1960) is a German former figure skater. She is the 1980 Olympic champion, two-time World champion (1978, 1980), four-time European champion (1977–1980), and five-time East Ger ...
(East Germany
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
), Emi Watanabe
is a Japanese former competitive figure skater who is the 1979 World bronze medalist and an eight-time Japanese national champion. She was the first skater to medal for Japan in ladies' singles at the World Championships.
Personal life
W ...
( Japan), and Dagmar Lurz
Dagmar Lurz (born 18 January 1959) is a German former figure skater. She is the 1980 Olympic bronze medalist, the 1980 World silver medalist, and a four-time European silver medalist (1977–80).
Personal life
Dagmar Lurz was born 18 January ...
(West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
). Like Watanabe, her compulsory figures
Compulsory figures or school figures were formerly a segment of figure skating, and gave the sport its name. They are the "circular patterns which skaters trace on the ice to demonstrate skill in placing clean turns evenly on round circles". For ...
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
The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially the XIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Lake Placid 1980, were an international multi-sport event held from February 13 to 24, 1980, in Lake Placid, New York, United States.
Lake Placid was elected ...
, Fratianne placed third in the compulsory figures
Compulsory figures or school figures were formerly a segment of figure skating, and gave the sport its name. They are the "circular patterns which skaters trace on the ice to demonstrate skill in placing clean turns evenly on round circles". For ...
, 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.
After the 1980 Winter Games, Fratianne turned professional and, at the 1980 world championships, won the bronze medal behind Anett Pötzsch and Dagmar Lurz
Dagmar Lurz (born 18 January 1959) is a German former figure skater. She is the 1980 Olympic bronze medalist, the 1980 World silver medalist, and a four-time European silver medalist (1977–80).
Personal life
Dagmar Lurz was born 18 January ...
from West Germany.
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 The United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame serves as a repository for the sport of figure skating. The United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame is where the greatest names in the history of the sport are honored. To be inducted into it is consid ...
.United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame
Results
References
External links
Linda Fratianne
IMDb
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fratianne, Linda 1960 births American female single skaters American people of Italian descent Figure skaters at the 1976 Winter Olympics Figure skaters at the 1980 Winter Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in figure skating Living people Olympic medalists in figure skating World Figure Skating Championships medalists Medalists at the 1980 Winter Olympics 21st-century American women