Frank Carroll, the legendary figure skating coach known for mentoring champions like Michelle Kwan and many others, passed away at age 85.
Frank Carroll, the iconic figure skater and revered coach, has passed away at the age of 85. U.S. Figure Skating confirmed Carroll’s death, expressing deep sorrow over the loss of the coaching legend in a statement shared on social media.
“A member of the World and U.S. Figure Skating Halls of Fame, Frank was instrumental in the careers of numerous Olympic and World champions and many future Hall of Famers,” the statement read.
Born in 1938 in Worcester, Massachusetts, Carroll’s journey in figure skating began under the guidance of his father. He later transitioned into coaching in the 1960s, leaving an indelible mark on the sport.
Throughout his illustrious career, Frank Carroll coached three world champions in both the women’s and men’s singles division of figure skating: Linda Fratianne, Michelle Kwan, and Evan Lysacek. All of these skaters achieved remarkable success at the Olympic level, with Lysacek being the only one to secure a gold medal.
Following Lysacek’s triumph at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, where he clinched the gold, Carroll expressed a sense of fulfillment, stating, “This is just frosting on the cake for me.” He revealed that winning an Olympic gold was not something he actively pursued but rather a cherished achievement that he never expected.
Fratianne, one of Carroll’s earlier proteges, earned a silver medal in the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. Carroll believed that the competition was unfairly influenced in favor of an East German competitor, a sentiment echoed in historical records and accounts.
Frank Carroll’s most prominent pupil, Michelle Kwan, achieved her Olympic silver medal under his guidance at the 1998 Nagano Olympics. Their collaboration in the 1990s yielded remarkable success, with Kwan securing four senior world titles and five of her nine national titles in figure skating.
In addition to Kwan, Carroll trained several other notable Olympians, including Gracie Gold, Denis Ten, and Timothy Goebel. Gold and Ten, who tragically passed away in 2018 at the age of 25, both won bronze medals in their respective divisions at the 2014 Games, while Goebel secured his bronze in 2002.
Leading up to his retirement from coaching in 2018, Carroll had a pupil competing in every consecutive Olympics for the previous six cycles, culminating with the PyeongChang Games. His legacy as a coach has left an indelible mark on the world of figure skating.
“I’m thankful to God that he’s given me the talent because there are many talented coaches in the world and some more talented than I,” Carroll reportedly shared in 2010, as noted by NBC Sports. “But I’ve always seemed to come up with the vehicle to do it, the talent they just sort of drift toward me.”
Throughout his illustrious career, Carroll’s contributions to figure skating were widely recognized. Before his passing, he had been honored with inductions into the halls of fame of U.S. Figure Skating, World Figure Skating, the Professional Skaters Association, and the International Skating Institute. These accolades underscored his profound impact and lasting legacy in the sport.
Source
https://people.com/frank-carroll-olympic-figure-skating-coach-dead-at-85-8660620
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