Susanna Driano (born May 28, 1957) is an American-Italian former competitive figure skater who competed for

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. She is the 1978 World bronze medalist, a two-time European bronze medalist (

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

, 1980), and a six-time Italian national champion (1975–80).

Personal life

Driano was born on May 28, 1957, in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, to a Canadian-born mother and Italian father.

Career

Driano competed internationally for

. In the 1974–75 season, she won the first of her six consecutive Italian national titles and was sent to her first ISU Championships; she finished sixth at the 1975 Europeans and ninth at the 1975 Worlds. At the start of the following season, Driano was awarded the gold medal at the 1975 Skate Canada International. She placed fifth at the 1976 Europeans in

Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...

, Switzerland; 7th at the

1976 Winter Olympics The 1976 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XII Olympic Winter Games (german: XII. Olympische Winterspiele, french: XIIes Jeux olympiques d'hiver) and commonly known as Innsbruck 1976 ( bar, Innschbruck 1976, label= Austro-Bavarian), was a ...

in Innsbruck, Austria; and tenth at the 1976 Worlds in Gothenburg, Sweden. Driano won the bronze medal behind

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 ...

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 ...

at the 1977 European Championships in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

, Finland. Her next major international medal came the following season. At the 1978 World Championships in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, she ranked fourth in figures, sixth in the short program, and sixth in the free program. She won the bronze medal behind Pötzsch and

Linda Fratianne Linda Sue Fratianne (born August 2, 1960) is an American former figure skating, 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 ...

. Driano was awarded bronze at the 1980 European Championships in Gothenburg, behind Pötzsch and Lurz. She placed 6th in figures, 14th in the short, 10th in the free, and 8th overall 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 ...

Lake Placid, New York Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,303. The village of Lake Placid is near the center of the town of North Elba, southwest of Plattsburg ...

. She withdrew from the 1980 World Championships and stopped competing but never turned professional. Making a brief return to competition, she placed fourth at the 1985

Winter Universiade The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad". The Universiade is referred t ...

in Belluno, Italy. Driano was coached by

Carlo Fassi Carlo Fassi (20 December 1929 – 20 March 1997) was an Italian figure skater and international coach whose students included several World and Olympic champions. As a single skater, he was the 1953 World bronze medalist, a two-time European cha ...

Results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Driano, Susanna Olympic figure skaters for Italy Figure skaters at the 1976 Winter Olympics Figure skaters at the 1980 Winter Olympics Italian female single skaters Living people 1957 births World Figure Skating Championships medalists European Figure Skating Championships medalists Sportspeople from Seattle