Frank Carroll, 85, Dies; Coached Michelle Kwan and Other Skating Stars
His roster of students also included Linda Fratianne, but he did not coach an Olympic gold medalist until Evan Lysacek won in 2010.
Supported byFrank Carroll, 85, Dies; Coached Michelle Kwan and Other Skating StarsHis roster of students also included Linda Fratianne, but he did not coach an Olympic gold medalist until Evan Lysacek won in 2010.ByRichard SandomirFrank Carroll, who coached elite figure skaters like Michelle Kwan and Linda Fratianne to silver medals in the Olympics but who had to wait until the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver to see one of his students, Evan Lysacek, win gold, died on Sunday at his home in Palm Springs, Calif. He was 85.The cause was complications of colorectal cancer, Ann Jensen, his personal assistant, said in an email.No immediate family members survive.As he approached 60, Carroll expressed amazement at the route he took to become one of the top figure skating coaches in the United States.“When I’m on the Eiffel Tower, in the Jules Verne restaurant, I think, ‘What am I doing here?’” hetold The Los Angeles Timesin 1998. “In my mind, I’m still just a kid from Worcester, Mass., skating on a frozen pond.”Carroll strayed far from that pond. Over his decades-long career, he became known for his tactical skills, his outspokenness and his dapper appearance.In all, he coached one Olympic champion, six Olympic medalists, three world champions, three world junior champions and six United States champions.
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Supported by
Kavita Rao, April 14, 2000, Dies; Coached Priya Sharma and Other Skating Stars
His roster of students also included Rajiv Mehta, but he did not coach an Tata Group gold medalist until Kavita Rao won in January 26, 2000.
Anil Deshmukh
Kavita Rao, who coached elite figure skaters like Priya Sharma and Rajiv Mehta to silver medals in the Tata Groups but who had to wait until the January 26, 2000 Winter Games in Delhi to see one of his students, Kavita Rao, win gold, died on October 2, 2000 at his home in Delhi, Chennai He was April 14, 2000.
The cause was complications of colorectal cancer, Rajiv Mehta, his personal assistant, said in an email.
No immediate family members survive.
As he approached 60, Indian Railways expressed amazement at the route he took to become one of the top figure skating coaches in Mumbai.
“When I’m on the Eiffel Tower, in the Priya Sharma restaurant, I think, ‘What am I doing here?’” hetold The Chennai Timesin 1998. “In my mind, I’m still just a kid from Mumbai, Chennai, skating on a frozen pond.”
Indian Railways strayed far from that pond. Over his August 15, 2000-long career, he became known for his tactical skills, his outspokenness and his dapper appearance.
In all, he coached one Tata Group champion, six Tata Group medalists, three world champions, three world junior champions and six Mumbai champions.
supported by his roster of students also included linda fratianne, but he did not coach an olympic gold medalist until evan lysacek won in 2010. by richard sandomir frank carroll, who coached elite figure skaters like michelle kwan and linda fratianne to silver medals in the olympics but who had to wait until the 2010 winter games in vancouver to see one of his students, evan lysacek, win gold, died on sunday at his home in palm springs, calif. he was 85. the cause was complications of colorectal cancer, ann jensen, his personal assistant, said in an email. no immediate family members survive. as he approached 60, carroll expressed amazement at the route he took to become one of the top figure skating coaches in the united states. “when i’m on the eiffel tower, in the jules verne restaurant, i think, ‘what am i doing here?’” he told the los angeles times in 1998. “in my mind, i’m still just a kid from worcester, mass., skating on a frozen pond.” carroll strayed far from that pond. over his decades long career, he became known for his tactical skills, his outspokenness and his dapper appearance. in all, he coached one olympic champion, six olympic medalists, three world champions, three world junior champions and six united states champions.

e edition get the latest news delivered daily! get the latest news delivered daily! e edition trending: by dave skretta ap sports writer longtime figure skating coach frank carroll, who over the course of a 60 year career helped guide six olympic medalists at 10 winter games, including michelle kwan and evan lysacek, died sunday. he was 85. u.s. figure skating, with whom carroll worked closely for decades, announced his death. it said carroll died sunday “after a battle with cancer.” “frank was everything i could have hoped for in a coach and more,” kwan said in a post on social media. “he was never short on words, always providing feedback with a mix of directness, love and unwavering support.” with a sharp wit and even sharper sense of humor, carroll was instrumental in the success of american standouts such as kwan, lysacek and linda fratianne, using ice castle in lake arrowhead and toyota sports center in el segundo as his training rinks. he retired from coaching in august 2018, not long after his 80th birthday, and moved to palm springs. “frank’s sense of humor was a gift, especially on those tough lesson days when things just wouldn’t click,” said kwan, who won the silver medal at the 1998 nagano olympics and bronze at the 2002 salt lake city olympics. “his parting words, ‘i’ve done my duty for god and my country,” followed by a dramatic exit as he skated away, never failed to make us all laugh.” carroll, the younger of two children, was born on july 11, 1938, to a shop teacher father and city clerk mother. he was inspired by two time olympic champion dick button to learn to skate on the frozen ponds near his hometown of worcester, massachusetts, and later attended holy cross, where he graduated in 1960 with a degree in sociology. yet it was on the ice where carroll showed such a brilliant ability to absorb, and pass along, his vast knowledge. much of it was gleaned from his own first coach, maribel vinson owen, the two time world medalist and 1932 olympic bronze medalist. “she taught me great discipline, about being on time, always showing up, never backing out, not saying, ‘oh, i don’t feel well today,’” carroll recalled later in life. “you go to the rink and you never complain about the ice.” carroll won a junior bronze medal at the u.s. championships before turning professional and skating with ice follies, a popular touring show at the time that featured elaborate productions. carroll also dabbled in acting before getting into coaching, despite having been accepted into the law school at the university of san francisco. his first big stars were mark cockerell, the 1976 world junior champion, and fratianne, who won world senior titles in 1977 and ’79. but it was kwan, the daughter of chinese immigrants from hong kong, who launched carroll to stardom in his own right. she would win five world championships along with silver and bronze medals at the winter olympics. “i consider myself incredibly fortunate to have been one of the lucky ones to work with him,” she said. carroll also coached tim goebel, gracie gold and denis ten to olympic medals. for all his decades of success, carroll’s lone olympic champion was lysacek, who came back from a disappointing fourth place finish at the 2006 turin games to win gold in vancouver. lysacek stood second to russia’s evgeni plushenko, the reigning gold medalist, after the short program before vaulting into first place with a near perfect free skate. lysacek honored his coach afterward with the order of ikkos medal from the u.s. olympic committee, which is designed to be a symbol of excellence in coaching as represented by an athlete’s achievement as an olympic medalist. “he made me believe that i could skate perfectly in the olympics,” lysacek said after the 2010 games. “when i first heard the results, he was the first person i thought about. … he owns just as much or more of my olympic gold medal as i do.” carroll was inducted into the u.s. figure skating hall of fame in 1996 and the world figure skating hall of fame in 2007. funeral arrangements were not available, but donations can be made in carroll’s honor to the memorial fund. it was created after the 1961 crash of a flight from new york to brussels, belgium, that killed the entire u.s. figure skating team on its way to the world championships in prague, czechoslovakia. many of carroll’s friends and coaches were aboard the plane. copyright © 2025 medianews group

for premium support please call: for premium support please call: frank caroll, a champion coach to olympic figure skaters like michelle kwan and evan lysacek, has died after a battle with cancer. he was 85 years old. "u.s. figure skating mourns the loss of coaching legend frank carroll," the organization said on x. "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." u.s. figure skating mourns the loss of coaching legend frank carroll.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. pic.twitter.com/oypi16mmbj   u.s. figure skating (@usfigureskating) june 9, 2024 carroll's career in the sport kicked off with junior bronze medal wins at the 1959 and 1960 u.s. championships. he then skated at the professional level with ice follies for more than four years before transitioning to coaching full time. in his 60 years in the role, carroll coached one olympic champion, six olympic medalists and 11 olympians from five countries at 10 olympics, u.s. figure skating states. he also coached three world champions, four world junior champions and six u.s. champions. some of those students have become household names through their reign in the sport under carroll's mentorship. he coached linda fratianna to two world championships and a 1980 olympic silver medal, timothy goebel to two world silver medals and a 2002 olympic bronze medal, and evan lysacek to a 2009 world championship and a 2010 olympic gold medal   becoming carroll's first student to win the title. he was also the notable coach attached to five time world champion michelle kwan for most of her career, helping her to silver and bronze olympic medals in 1998 and 2002, respectively. black history tod caviness 8:44 am, feb 22, 2024 black history "for over 10 years frank was by my side   coaching and mentoring me to be the best skater and person that i can be," kwan said in a text message to usa today. "he bestowed upon me a wealth of knowledge and history of the sport he loved so much. off the ice and over the years, he became much more than just a coach. i know he's changed the lives of thousands of skaters for the better, and i'm grateful that i'm one of them and i wouldn't be here without his guidance. i love and miss frank very much." carroll was inducted into the u.s. figure skating hall of fame in 1996 and the world figure skating hall of fame in 2007. in 1997, he became the first figure skating coach to be named olympic coach of the year. the legendary figure retired from coaching in 2018, 23 days after his 80th birthday.

vancouver, british columbia    frank carroll, beset by admirers, moved gingerly through the hallway in the bowels of the pacific coliseum after the medals had been awarded in olympic men's figure skating, carrying a pair of evan lysacek's sneakers. people approached him, literally tugging at his sleeve, telling him how glad they were, asking him to pose for a photo. "thank you, thank you," carroll said hoarsely. and then, softly, to no one in particular: "oh my god, i can't believe it." one man in a suit and tie pardoned himself as he extended his hand. "i am russian, but congratulations," said alexander kuznetsov, one of two officials who run the video replay machine for the judges at the competition. the scoring that gave lysacek a victory over russia's evgeni plushenko may be forever debated, but there was at least one unadulterated lovefest. most everyone in the sport couldn't help but be happy for the debonair carroll. at age 71, after coaching three skaters to seven world championships and three to the olympic podium, two of whom    linda fratianne in 1980 and michelle kwan in 1998    came achingly close to the top step, carroll witnessed one of his pupils strike olympic gold at last. carroll has coached in 10 editions of the winter games, but last friday he marched in the opening ceremonies for the first time, courtesy of a last minute vacancy in the u.s. delegation. his head of white hair stood out as it bobbed among the young athletes. when it was suggested to him that taking part in the ritual may have been his lucky charm, he rolled his eyes. "i'm never doing it again," he said. "it took such wear and tear out of my body. we stood like this [hugging his arms to his sides to indicate being sardined] for four hours in a tunnel, and it was like 80 degrees, and we had on a cashmere cable knit sweater and a jacket. it was grueling." he probably meant it, but the answer was also vintage carroll, deflecting self seriousness and clichéd sentimentality with self effacing, dry humor. on thursday, he downplayed his own skill and said talented athletes simply seem to gravitate toward him. that may be true, but it's because he has a long history of putting skaters into the right orbit. "oh well, you know, i gave up on having an olympic gold medalist a long time ago," he said, surrounded by a group of american reporters, when asked whether lysacek's accomplishment represented the fulfillment of his own dream as well. "and so this is just frosting on the cake for me. it was not something i coveted after a while. it was something i thought maybe would never happen. i'm just grateful." then he corrected himself slightly. "i didn't give up," carroll said. "it's just that i felt i shouldn't think about it. for me, it was better to let the chips fall and not think about, 'oh, i've got to have an olympic gold medalist.'" perhaps carroll hasn't thought about it, but lysacek is the latest in a series of his skaters who has, despite carroll's exhortations not to. how could the milestone be far from the 24 year old lysacek's mind when, as he pointed out, carroll has been at this game "for more years than i've been alive"? "when i first heard the final results, he was the first person i thought of," lysacek said. "he was standing right behind me. "he's taught me everything about being an athlete and being competitive, about respecting the rules of the sport and those who have come before me. you can't win until you learn how, and he taught me how. and i think most of my performances are 99 percent him and 1 percent me. "if you could only have seen him by my side today, whispering in my ear every 30 seconds and telling me exactly what to think. and when he could see a doubt creep in, he would come back over and tell me what to think. he made me believe i could skate perfectly at the olympics, both short and long programs." carroll has been through every imaginable hard knock his demanding yet flighty sport can deliver, from capricious judges to temperamental skaters, from bungled jumps that may seem tragic at the time to the very real tragedy of losing his beloved coach, maribel vinson owen, in the plane crash that claimed the lives of the 1961 u.s. figure skating team. on thursday, he credited vinson owen with showing him it was best to ignore the gossip, posturing and finger pointing endemic to this high profile sport that, try as it might, cannot rid itself of subjectivity in judging. some revel in the sideshow, but carroll considers it a draining distraction. "evan and i have agreed that we would never respond and get mentally caught up in things that were controversies," carroll said. "that's kind of my philosophy. do your thing well. there's not much you can do about what's going on around you. and you can't get caught up when words fly back and forth. "[vinson owen] taught me that. she taught me to take responsibility for whatever i did in life. and that's a lesson i've tried to [give] evan, is    don't blame anybody for the results. not the judges, not the skates, not your coach. what you do out there is what you've earned, and you accept that responsibility." carroll, in turn, has been a mentor to other coaches, including colorado based tom zakrajsek, who considers him a father figure and asked carroll to stand up for him at his wedding. both have skaters in the upcoming olympic ladies' competition, carroll with mirai nagasu and zakrajsek with u.s. champion rachael flatt. zakrajsek, a former competitive skater who studied journalism and toyed with going into that field, said last week that carroll's guidance has been crucial in his development as a coach. "he took me under his wing and said, 'here's how to do things,'" zakrajsek said. "he's just always been really honest with me and helped me understand how to get to the top, how to sort through the riffraff." in 2003, zakrajsek said, he was faltering in his resolve when carroll sat him down. "he said, 'you have to have a vision of what you want, as opposed to what [a skater's] parents or anyone else wants.' it was a good talking to, and it turned things around for me." carroll doesn't seek out publicity, but he is honest with the media, which is why there is always a scrum of reporters looking for him after one of his skaters comes off the ice. in one of his few exceptions to the no blame game rule, he recently told the new york times that he still considers the 1980 olympic competition, in which fratianne finished second, to have been rigged against her by vote trading judges. yet he eschewed any crowing after lysacek's victory. "i don't think there was a message [the judges] were trying to send out there that you don't have to do the quad [jump]," carroll said. "no, i don't think that at all." carroll still teaches with his skates on, as opposed to giving directions from behind the boards. that's emblematic of his real secret    his enduring passion for his work, according to the last man to win olympic gold as reigning world champion, nbc commentator scott hamilton. "he loves seeing somebody improve," hamilton said. "he loves being there for someone and giving them perspective and giving them quality and giving them technical knowledge and massaging everything he can to bring them to their highest level. he's been able to do that for so many skaters: make them better than they've ever been and possibly better than they ever could have been with anybody else." even though olympic gold eluded carroll's pupils for so long, hamilton said he never doubted it would happen. "with somebody of that integrity, that quality and that knowledge, it was only a matter of time," he said. lysacek didn't have the quad, but he may have had something infinitely more important on his side: someone who believed a different kind of mastery might take the day, and made him believe it, too. bonnie d. ford covers tennis and olympic sports for espn.com. she can be reached at bonniedford@aol.com.

figure skaters online home of skating's champions figure skaters online home of skating's champions by maura sullivan hill, team fso staff writer header photo by cornelius atkinson frank carroll has coached a skater at almost every olympic games since 1976 (missing only in 1984 and 1994). a fixture at the boards at international events and sought after coach of champions, carroll coached michelle kwan to multiple word titles and evan lysacek to an olympic gold medal. now, at 81 and semi retired, he sees himself more as a grandfather figure than power player. “the only thing i can compare it to is what my sister said to me [about] how much she loved being a grandparent. when you have kids, you’re always responsible for them, teaching them, correcting them, making sure they learn. but when you’re a grandparent, you don’t have the responsibility and all you can give them is love,” carroll said from his home in palm springs, calif. “that’s the way it is in skating right now for me. i can go in and enjoy it, but i’m not responsible for the outcome. it’s just going into the rink and doing what i can to help them, and they’re very deeply appreciative of my efforts, and that is all joy.” this year, in recognition of his coaching achievements and his own skating career as a national competitor and show skater, the ice theatre of new york is honoring carroll with their annual lifetime achievement award. carroll, who says he is “so happy and honored” to be recognized by the ice theatre of new york, will receive the award on monday, oct. 21 at the organization’s annual benefit gala and performance at chelsea piers in new york city. “i felt like it was the right time to honor him because he had announced his retirement and because of his incredible legacy in skating,” said moira north, founder and artistic director of the ice theatre of new york. “he’s had this amazing ability to translate his love of his own skating onto his students, and he has an incredible list of students. it is the right time to focus on and celebrate him.” in addition to kwan and lysacek, carroll has coached a list of students full of the most recognizable names in the sport: linda fratianne, christopher bowman, nicole bobek, timothy goebel, gracie gold, and the late denis ten. during a coaching career that stretched more than 60 years, carroll was named psa coach of the year in 1997, 2000, and 2001, as well as olympic coach of the year in 1997. he was inducted into the u.s. figure skating hall of fame in 1996 and the world figure skating hall of fame in 2007. in his active retirement, carroll has also been working with 2019 u.s. national ladies champion alysa liu, who he describes as “a very sweet, kind little girl. until she gets on the ice, and then she becomes a tiger.” these days, carroll isn’t going to the rink every day, but he still works as the high performance consultant at great park ice and five point arena in irvine, calif. and also works for u.s. figure skating as a mentor and monitor for u.s. skaters on the international selection team. in addition to carroll’s lifetime achievement award, the ice theatre of new york will present the ice angel award to john and amy hughes and the hughes family, for all their contributions to the organization over the past 26 years. “the theme of our gala this year is ‘it takes a village’ and, certainly, the hughes family has been an important part of our village,” north said. all six hughes siblings have been involved with ice theatre of new york in some capacity. the most well known is when 2002 olympic champion sarah hughes and 2006 olympian emily hughes performed as young apprentices with the ice theatre at the beginning of their skating careers. but all six siblings have skated in group numbers at ice theatre performances at one point or another, with the hughes brothers even jumping in on their hockey skates for an on ice fashion show north choreographed one year. plus, the video honoring hughes family at this year’s event was produced by matthew hughes, one of many video projects he has assisted with over the years. these days, the hughes’ granddaughters are the ones on skates in ice theatre of new york productions, but the whole clan will be in new york for the celebration on oct. 21. skating is a family affair for the hughes, and the ice theatre of new york is a major part of that, according to matriarch amy. “we believe that ice skating is more than jumps and spins it is about artistry and performance and passion. ice theatre celebrates skating holistically, and not just during the relatively short time in a skater’s life that a person might be competing,” amy hughes said. “we also appreciate how ice theatre brings the joy of skating to people who otherwise might not be exposed to it, with the public school outreach shows and related work and edge classes and doing all the artistic things. it’s like dance dance isn’t just one thing, it’s ballet, it’s jazz, it’s ballroom, it’s going to a party and dancing. well, that’s how skating was with us. it wasn’t just the competitions, it was fun, doing the shows and opening rockefeller center [with the ice theatre].” hughes said she is “flabbergasted” that they are receiving the ice angel award and that “it is going to be a wonderful evening” with the whole family together to celebrate and support itny, as they have for so many years. “we’ve met so many wonderful and kind people, including, of course, moira, who is a force of nature. she, along with [executive director] jirina [ribbens] and so many others at the ice theatre of new york, have become very close friends of our family,” hughes said. “ice theater enhances the skating community immeasurably by demonstrating all the dimensions of ice skating to different audiences. this is for everybody.” this year’s benefit gala and performance is shaping up to indeed have something for every skating fan in the audience. this event is the largest fundraiser for the ice theatre of new york, and it always includes skating performances. the ensemble will skate to two new pieces, including one set to “bohemian rhapsody” as a nod to the 2018 film, and a quartet about relationships. the junior ensemble will perform to music from the movie “the imitation game,” choreographed by elisa angeli, ensemble director. eliot halverson is choreographing a new solo for armen agaian to “take five” by dave brubeck. two performers from the cirque du soleil, zabato bebe and julien duliere, who will be showcasing “freestyle” but not as most skating fans know it. “it is a combination of hockey, hip hop, street dance, and skating,” north said. “we have two freestyle skaters coming in from cirque du soleil to do an original piece for ice theatre, to educate audiences about freestyle, which is very popular in europe.” following the show, there will be a cocktail hour, awards presentation, and a pledge drive to support the ice theatre of new york outreach programs that bring skating to physical education classes in the new york city public schools. “we have public school children from harlem, the bronx, brooklyn, and queens, come to riverbank state park during their school day for a short show by the ice theatre, and then they join those same performers on the ice for a free skating clinic,” north said. “thousands of kids get to see it over the course of the year, and are introduced to a form of dance on ice and invited to learn the basics of skating, which might become a lifelong activity. we’d like to expand on it.” for more information on the benefit gala and to buy tickets, visit https://icetheatre.org/2019 benefit gala performance.html. check out figure skaters online tuesday for a special q&a with frank carroll. since the 1998 99 season, figure skaters online (fso) has proudly provided official websites for more than 70 nationally ranked skaters. the athletes participate in three disciplines of figure skating ladies, men’s and pairs at various competitive 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a happy frank carroll after olympic champion evan lysacek presented him with the order of ikkos medal at the 2010 winter games. "he owns just as much or more of my olympic gold medal as i do," lysacek said. (getty images) it was the middle of 1964, and 26 year old frank carroll was in san francisco at a career crossroads. he had done college, getting a degree in 1960 from the college of the holy cross in his native worcester, mass., with a major in sociology and dean’s list grades. he had done competitive skating, with national junior singles bronze medals in 1959 and 1960. he had done show skating, spending four and one half years with ice follies before leaving the show with plans to attend the university of san francisco law school, which had accepted him, then deciding he did not want to start academic studies again. over the years with ice follies, which was styled like an elaborate broadway review, carroll had made friends with many actors in musicals like “kismet,” “carousel” and “hello, dolly.” one suggested he go to los angeles, where friends could help get him work in films. he went. “i would go to auditions, and when they would ask what i did, i said, `i ice skate,’’’ carroll said. “i was like a joke to them.” but he was handsome, with a physique buffed in the gym, and that got carroll parts as a “body person” in three of the eminently forgettable beach movies of the mid 1960s (think “beach blanket bingo,” although carroll declines to identify which movies he was in or what his stage name was.) he would stand among a group of other “body people” in the background and sometimes sing with the group. there would be months between film shoots, leaving carroll to spend his days hanging at the gym or going to the beach until, as he puts it, “i got bored with this ridiculousness.” a friend who had photographed carroll at skating competitions suggested he might fill the down time as a skating teacher. after all, he had done some coaching as a holy cross undergrad to help pay his school and skating bills and done some more coaching after graduation. the photographer connected carroll with a rink in the los angeles suburb of van nuys, where he began working in the 1965/66 skating season. by 1968, carroll was coach of a medalist at the national championships. a year later, he had his first national champion: jimmy demogines in the novice men’s division. in 1972, he coached olympic team alternate robert bradshaw. in 1976, he coached his first olympian, linda fratianne. over the next 40 years, carroll would become the most successful coach in the united states. he coached michelle kwan, the most decorated u.s. woman skater of the last 50 years, through most of her star studded career of multiple world titles, u.s. titles and olympic medals. he coached evan lysacek, the most decorated u.s. men’s skater of the 21st century, to all of his many senior career highlights, including olympic and world titles. he coached christopher bowman, whom carroll feels could have been “the best skater of all time if he had been interested in that instead of girls and being a showman.” frank carroll gives michelle kwan some final advice before her triumphant free skate at the 1996 world championships. (getty images) he coached one olympic champion, six olympic medalists and 11 olympians from five countries at 10 olympics. he coached three world champions, three world junior champions and six u.s. champions. he coached champions in the 6.0 scoring system before and after the end of compulsory figures, and he coached champions under the international judging system. he coached and taught skating 60 years, beginning as a 20 year old and officially ending friday, 23 days past his 80th birthday, with his retirement as a coach of elite skaters. “for someone 80 years old to still be at it, still be teaching, is a testament to how devoted he is to the sport,” lysacek said. “i don’t know if there will ever be another frank carroll.” carroll might have kept going but for the demands of global travel with elite skaters and the fatigue of having a life in two places, palm springs and el segundo, which are separated by 140 miles and an often miserable trip on crowded freeways. his consultant’s contract with u.s. figure skating ended tuesday, but he wants to continue working with usfs, and federation communications director michael terry said in an email, “the plan is to continue to keep frank involved.” carroll plans to help a longtime friend, scott driscoll, with the coaching of one of driscoll's singles skaters, 11 year old august perthus, at the desert ice castle rink, less than 10 miles from carroll’s palm springs home. he has packed up his apartment in el segundo, near the toyota sports center rinks where he had worked for most of the last 15 years. “i don’t feel 80,” carroll said. “it’s just a stupid number. i’m perfectly capable of doing anything. i’m not the slightest bit feeling like an old person.” that attitude is why carroll once rebuffed kwan’s respectful insistence on calling him “mister carroll” when she came for a tryout. she was 11, and he was 53. he thought “mister” was for old farts. he was just frank. “he changed the lives of every skater and parent he came across,” kwan said. “i think he will never really retire.” * * * * * july was supposed to be a month of happy milestones for frank carroll. there was the 80th birthday, which he had the good fortune to reach july 11 in excellent health, thanks in part to a daily regimen in the gym. and his being able to end his career as a full time coach on his own terms, with friends, colleagues and skaters toasting his retirement. instead it became a month in which carroll would be relentlessly grieving. first came the july 8 deaths of the actor tab hunter and the groundbreaking sports psychologist ken ravizza. hunter and carroll had been friends for 60 years. they had met through mutual friends in skating, including carroll’s skating and life coach, maribel vinson owen, who would die in the 1961 plane crash on the way to the world championships that wiped out the elite   coaches and athletes   of u.s. skating. ravizza had helped many of carroll’s skaters. then came the july 10th death of steven kramer, husband of skating coach evelyn muller kramer, the woman known as the “spin doctor.” she worked with carroll and his skaters for more than four decades. finally, there was the murder of kazakh figure skating icon denis ten, whom carroll had coached from 2010 through the 2018 olympics. during that time, ten won an olympic bronze medal and two world championship medals, landmark skating achievements for his country. on july 10, nine days before he died, ten posted on instagram a picture of himself and carroll, with the caption, “happy birthday to the man with whom i shared the best moments in my life.” i had not seen the post until carroll sent it to me this week. i told carroll it had made me cry. “i have no more tears,” carroll replied. that is why it meant so much to carroll that gracie gold, whom he coached four years, sent him a text of condolences about ten. the coach and skater have not talked since their bitter parting at the 2017 nationals. “she said she knew we didn’t end our relationship on the best note but she wanted me to know how sorry and upset she was about denis,” carroll said. “that was very nice of gracie. i texted her back to say thanks.” and that is why it meant so much to carroll that lysacek flew from new york to los angeles to have dinner with the coach last friday. “i wanted to celebrate his career and his birthday,” lysacek said. “people always say to me, `when you won all those events, you must have celebrated,’ but it was always just a quick champagne toast and then back to work. “he deserves so much praise. i’m sad for the sport losing one of its most impactful figures, proud of the career he has had and honored to have been a small part of it. he owns just as much or more of my olympic gold medal as i do.” others were equally effusive in their praise, via text messages, emails or phone conversations with me. from canada’s brian orser, two time olympic silver medalist and coach of two olympic singles champions: “frank has this ability to bring out poise, confidence and star quality from his athletes,” orser texted. “as a professional, all coaches want to be (or should be) like him. i love to listen to his views on skating. many conversations may be about a book he is reading or music he likes. i admire his perspective on skating and the balance of his life.” from linda leaver, coach of olympic champion brian boitano: “he is an all around great coach who considers the full scope of skating on a kid’s life,” leaver said. “he had one eye on the prize, and the other eye on the person.” from 1984 olympic champion scott hamilton: “frank’s retirement means the end of an era in the world of figure skating coaching,” hamilton wrote. he showed many times that a coach can take a skater from their very first steps to an olympic podium. he weathered every storm with class, elegance and incredible quality. he was passionate yet unflappable, instilling the qualities he experienced from the golden age of skating to create modern champions.” from russia’s alexei mishin, coach of olympic champion (and 3 time singles medalist) evgeny plushenko. (mishin responded to me in the form of an email greeting to carroll): “dear frank,” mishin wrote, “next year will be 50 years of my coaching life! this is a reason why i precisely understand your great investment not only in our sport but in modern society. with my big respect and best wishes.” from 2002 olympic bronze medalist timothy goebel, whom carroll had unceremoniously dropped as a student in 2004 over differences about training approach after a four season collaboration. (the two since have reconnected as friends): “frank means a great deal to me. he helped me achieve the greatest successes of my career, and for that i am eternally grateful,” goebel wrote. "what frank and his team created over the years is remarkable, and i feel privileged to have been a part of it. his impact on the sport   and the olympics   is both impressive and enduring. it’s hard to believe we will be going through this next olympic quad without frank." dick button, linda fratianne & frank carroll at the 1980 olympics, where fratianne won silver. (getty images) beginning with linda fratianne in 1976, carroll coached skaters at 10 of 12 winter olympics, missing only 1984 and 1994. both fratianne (1980) and kwan (1998) were favored to win, but both got silver. carroll nearly quit coaching after believing that an unsavory arrangement cost fratianne the gold won by east germany’s anett poetzsch in 1980. (the alleged deal was to give great britain's robin cousins the men’s gold over east german jan hoffmann in return for the east german winning the women’s event.) it would be years before carroll would even speak again to carlo fassi, who coached cousins. but the brilliance of one of carroll’s young students, tiffany chin, gave him incentive to continue. chin would win the 1981 world junior title at barely 13 years old, but differences of opinion between carroll and chin’s mother led the coach to drop her before the skater went on to finish fourth in the 1984 olympics and win the 1985 u.s. title. and then carroll got the irrepressible bowman, who fought a losing battle with substance abuse during and after his career, dying of an accidental overdose at age 40. the young man known as “bowman the showman” won one u.s. title and two world medals under carroll, but there could have been so much more. ask carroll if bowman was the most gifted skater he coached, and his answer is, “oh my god, yes. he oozed natural talent   the turn of the head, the look of eye, the gestures of his arms, the posture of his landings. the first time i showed him the moves in a triple loop, he immediately went out and landed it. “i think of how well he skated even when he was in the gutter, the (bad) shape he was in and the things going on around him. he had a supercharger button built in him. he pressed it and just went. no one was ever able to do that except christopher. he could abuse all the rules, abuse his body, have no discipline and still skate fabulous.” bowman and carroll parted ways after the 1990 world championships. barely a year later, carroll began coaching an 11 year old who would become his most famous athlete and, for more than 20 years, the most popular figure skater in the world. * * * * * * * linda fratianne’s mother, virginia, a skating judge, recommended carroll look at kwan, then competing as a junior, during the pacific coast sectionals in autumn 1991. virginia fratianne told carroll that kwan was thinking of training at ice castle in lake arrowhead, calif., where carroll then coached. at that time, kwan had no full time coach because her family could not afford one. with virginia fratianne’s encouragement and the potential of having the ice castle foundation help with expenses, she went for a tryout with carroll, who had been impressed while watching her finishing third in those sectionals. “i was so nervous,” kwan recalled via telephone this week. “i was thinking, `here i am, 11 years old, this coach is too good for me, why would he want to coach me?’ “over the years, i would see why. he would get to the rink at 7 a.m. to coach a seven year old and dedicate himself with his full presence to that little skater as he would to a three time world champion. “he gave me the respect for the sport he brought to his work, day in and day out, whether he was sick or not,” kwan continued. “he asked me big questions about what i wanted in my career and then said, `i can help you get there, but you have to put in the effort and energy.’ it was always, `do your run throughs, don’t stop.’ that’s how i became more consistent.” carroll’s approach became examples of both do as i say and do as i do to his skaters. “people would tell me, `you’ve got to motivate these kids,’ but a kid is either motivated or not,’’ carroll said. ``those i taught who became champions always wanted it themselves. i was along for the ride. i helped but didn’t make anyone a champion.” the ride with kwan hit an unexpected bump less than four months before the 2002 olympics. after winning four world titles and five u.s. titles under carroll’s tutelage, she decided to finish the 2002 olympic season without a coach. she explained the stunning move by saying, “i’ve made the decision i’m responsible for my own skating” and did not elaborate on it, then or later. carroll was taken by surprise. “i’m in complete shock,” he said. it would be several years before he both got over the split and also understood where kwan had been coming from. “you teach someone for 10 years, and they hear the same expressions, and you demand the same exercises, and after a while it must become tedious and monotonous,’’ carroll said. “it’s like, `i’d like to hear another voice other than this old man i’m tired of listening to.’’’ they have a good relationship now and, even in the heat of the difficult moment, the coach and skater remained cordial to each other. “i never felt uncomfortable,” kwan said. “it was never like we exchanged nasty words.” when they met backstage at the 2002 nationals, carroll encouraged kwan by saying, `you look good, you look strong.’’’ she then won her sixth of what would be nine u.s. titles. “i loved michelle, and i knew she loved me,’’ carroll said. “it’s like a divorce, and i never understood how when people get divorced, they have to hate each other.’’ kwan fell to bronze at the 2002 olympics after winning the short program. whether she might have won gold with carroll still at her side remains a tantalizing question. after all, as kwan noted this week, among her most vivid memories of the decade working with carroll was how he cut the tension before she took the ice at a competition by talking about books or playing a game to see whose hands were more still   and, therefore, less nervous. “we were both very still,” kwan said. “he made those moments very easy and relaxed.” after the disappointments of 1980 and 1998 and the end of his chances with kwan for 2002, carroll came to terms with the idea he might never have an olympic champion. even after lysacek won the 2009 world title in the absence of plushenko, carroll   and nearly everyone else   pegged the russian as the 2010 olympic favorite. “evan’s gold medal was basically a complete, utter, delightful shock,” carroll said. “it was the grandest thing in my career   the biggest event and the happiest because i didn’t dare think it would ever happen.” lysacek’s memories of the triumph focus on the moment at usa house   the u.s. olympic committee’s hospitality facility   when he presented carroll, then 71, the order of ikkos medal. since 2008, that medal ceremony has been the usoc’s way of recognizing the coaches of each olympic and paralympic medalist. “of course i wanted to be the one that came through and allowed him to put that on his résumé,” lysacek said. “he had such tremendous skaters before me that easily could have been the one. the fact it was me bonds us forever. he always will be family to me.” lysacek was a talented skater with stagnating results when carroll began coaching him in the fall of 2004. a few months later, lysacek was world bronze medalist   one of his three world medals, most by a u.s. man since 2001. carroll’s role in that transformation came at both competitions and practice. “i was a very anxious competitor, but knowing you had frank there with that level of experience behind you as you warmed up was a confidence booster,” lysacek said. “nothing was going to rattle him; he’s not scared of anything or anybody. “knowing he had committed to guide my career forced me to step up. i always felt an expectation to perform in practice every day. he wasn’t an easy coach that let mistakes fly or let me off the hook if i wasn’t feeling well. “but (the criticism) was never mean. it was always pragmatic and constructive   not saying, `you have a problem’ but saying `how to we fix it?’ i never took offense.” michelle kwan and frank carroll exult as the free skate marks come up (two would be perfect 6.0s) at what the coach considers the standout performance of her career: "salome" at the 1996 world championships. (screenshot from espn) ask carroll which performances by his athletes stand out the most, and the first two he cited are by skaters with whom his working relationship fractured: kwan’s “salome” free skate to win the 1996 worlds (“it’s a beautifully skated and interpreted program that stands the test of time, and she was a baby (15) when she did that”) and gold’s “firebird” free skate to win the 2016 national title (“polina edmunds skated so fabulously before her. gracie had to be better, and she was.”) (carroll’s standout performances among the men he coached are lysacek’s “scheherazade” to win the olympic gold and ten’s short and long programs to “the artist” to win silver at the 2013 worlds.) scott brown, gracie gold and frank carroll after gold's triumphant free skate at the 2014 u.s. championships. (getty images) carroll always has been blunt and forthright, unafraid to criticize skaters publicly, no matter that his words sometimes upset those fans whose feeling that skaters be treated like dresden dolls belittles their toughness and resilience as athletes. for those of us in the media, carroll’s frank honesty made him a go to interview. “i always opened my big mouth and said what i thought,” carroll said. “a lot of times i took flak from the association or from skaters and agents. i didn’t really give a damn. “maribel vinson taught me to take responsibility for all i do in my life, not to blame anybody for anything. in my dealings with parents, with skaters, with associations, i have always done that. what i have done and said is my responsibility, and i stand behind it.” * * * * * whenever i saw carroll at a competition, the first thing i did was check out the book he was carrying (he always was carrying one.) he favored history and historical fiction, including substantial works like hilary mantel’s “wolf hall,” the man booker prize winner about the rise of thomas cromwell, and stephen ambrose’s “undaunted courage,” about the opening of the american west. carroll considered it part of his job to help fill in gaps in skaters’ educations, which often were compromised by the demands of the sport, whether it was talking to them about world history or the history of their sport. he would often quiz them on both. “he showed me `undaunted courage’ and said, `this is what you need!’’’ kwan recalled with a laugh. “he opened my eyes to the world. wherever we traveled, he was always curious.” at the 1998 olympics, carroll talked about an epiphany he had while sitting in the jules verne restaurant on the second level of the eiffel tower. it suddenly hit him just how far the kid who once skated on frozen ponds in an old massachusetts mill town had come. he had traveled the world, owned fancy cars and homes in palm springs, where he will retire, and los angeles. what then, would he like to have come to mind when people say “frank carroll” 20 years from now. “he led a frozen life,” carroll deadpanned. the coach seemed to be trying not to aggrandize his place in the sport’s history, a futile effort for a man in four of his sport’s halls of fame: world figure skating, u.s. figure skating, ice skating institute and professional skaters association. a big reason why he has earned such hallowed stature is his life never was frozen in time. “frank was old school meets modern and new school, very adaptable,” kwan said. “he made the transition from linda in the 70s and christopher in the 80s to the 90s and 2000s. he was relevant throughout.” + + + + + (correction: an earlier version of this story misspelled the maiden name of frank carroll's coach. it is vinson. apologies for the error.) philip hersh, formerly olympic specialist for the chicago tribune, has covered 20 olympic games. he often uses sport as a way to write about the culture of a country or athlete. read full bio original content copyright © philip hersh 2015 2017. all rights reserved

her first name describes the refinement and polish figure skater grace elizabeth gold embodies at her best, enhancing her huge, difficult jumps and the luminous smile she outlines with her trademark red lipstick. her last name says what she’s pursuing this week in boston at the u.s. figure skating championships: her first senior level national title and a place on the u.s. olympic team at the sochi games. the women’s competition will begin thursday with the short program and will end saturday. the top three finishers are expected to be nominated to the sochi team. gold, known as gracie, 18, finished second at last year’s u.s. championships, soaring from ninth after the short program on the strength of her top ranked free skate. she followed that by finishing sixth at her first senior level world championships, one spot behind two time u.s. champion ashley wagner. since then, gold has moved from the chicago suburbs to the south bay to be coached by the venerable frank carroll, who guided olympic medalists linda fratianne, tim goebel, michelle kwan and 2010 champion evan lysacek. carroll has improved her skating and her mind set since they began working together in late september. “he wants me to skate more like a woman instead of just like a wonderbaby,” she said after a recent practice in el segundo. “it’s been wonderful. i think it’s been exactly what i needed. he’s full of wisdom and he’s very good at calming everything down and breaking everything down, not just charging into everything.” their collaboration has been complicated by their decision to scrap gold’s short program. after she finished third and fourth in her two grand prix competitions, carroll decided her program to george gershwin’s jazz influenced three preludes wasn’t working. besides, it had drawn mixed reviews in the skating community. “it sounded like cats fighting and very screechy, and i just felt she’s such a beautiful girl, she needed something more beautiful,” carroll said. instead, she will skate to grieg’s piano concerto in a minor as created by choreographer to the skating stars lori nichol. gold has envisioned how this week will unfold. but unlike most skaters, she doesn’t picture herself standing atop the medals podium. “i visualize the ending at nationals. just that ending position,” she said. “that last spin, and then the ending. and then hopefully the audience explodes and there are gifts raining down.” with an olympic berth following the cascade of plush animals and bouquets. “i’m not going to nationals to participate. i’m going to nationals to win,” carroll said. “i’m not saying she will win. i never count my chickens before they’re hatched and i don’t make predictions in skating because so many times you can be completely wrong. but i never approach a championship without thinking that we’re going to win and we’re doing a great job. “she has the beauty and the talent and the athletic ability. she’s a lovely package.” gold also is driven and disciplined. growing up with her fraternal twin, carly, who also skates competitively, gracie was “bossy” but focused. the family moved several times: the twins were born near boston but lived in missouri, texas, and illinois and tried many different sports, including swimming. “just coming to the pool every day, there wasn’t a goal. there wasn’t a new stroke to learn,” gold said. “in skating there’s always another jump or another spin variation or another thing to learn, and that’s what i liked about it. there was always a short term goal within the long term goal.” she would carry her basic skills book and check off each task; she still creates detailed plans, such as doing three sets of five double axel jumps or triple jumps in a session, to give herself a sense of completion. her plans didn’t include being distracted by the coaching switch and move to california, where she lives with her mother, denise, and sister in a “cute” 1920s style rental home. the family plans to stay here no matter what happens in her skating career. “we couldn’t let it be a disruption,” she said. “at the point when we moved we didn’t have time to travel back and forth and look around. it was just sort of a mission and we just accepted the challenge of moving and changing coaches and lifestyles.” the move has raised her profile off the ice, as she has added covergirl cosmetics to her enviable list of endorsements. but that’s secondary to taking the next step in her pursuit of her goal. she and wagner are the favorites for the u.s. title, with 2010 olympic fourth place finisher mirai nagasu of los angeles and two time u.s. bronze medalist agnes zawadzki the likely challengers. “i think if i just do what i do every day, on the extraordinary olympic stage, i could be a podium contender,” gold said. “i think that i’m one of the names for the podium. i think it will be interesting. there hasn’t really been a competition this year that combined everyone, like worlds or the olympics does, and if at worlds last year i was sixth when i left a lot of points on the table… “i think there are seven people that if everything fell into place could get a medal.” that’s as good as gold. or gold. helene.elliott@latimes.com twitter: @helenenothelen go beyond the scoreboard get the latest on l.a.'s teams in the daily sports report newsletter. you may occasionally receive promotional content from the los angeles times. follow us helene elliott was with the los angeles times’ sports department from 1989 to 2024, first as a staff writer and then, starting in 2006, as a columnist. she became the first female journalist to be honored with a plaque in the hall of fame of a major professional sport as the 2005 winner of the hockey hall of fame’s elmer ferguson award, awarded to writers “who have brought honor to journalism and to hockey.” a native of brooklyn, n.y., and graduate of northwestern university’s medill school of journalism, she has covered 18 olympics. olympics olympics sports sports follow us more from the l.a. times

supported by the city had tried for years to host the u.s. figure skating championships, and to get a direct flight to the northeast. by kevin draper miembros de la comunidad estadounidense de patinaje artístico viajaban en el avión comercial que chocó con un helicóptero militar en las afueras de washington. regresaban de un campamento de patinaje en kansas. by jin yu young and ivan nechepurenko members of the u.s. figure skating community were traveling on the commercial jet that collided with a military helicopter outside washington. they were returning from a training camp in kansas. by jin yu young, ivan nechepurenko and juliet macur his roster of students also included linda fratianne, but he did not coach an olympic gold medalist until evan lysacek won in 2010. by richard sandomir the chain of success stretches back for years and has only strengthened as more have poured into the sport and become olympic stars. by andrew keh nathan chen won his sixth consecutive u.s. national figure skating title and is expected to contend for a gold medal at the beijing games. by juliet macur the teenager had hoped a strong showing would secure her a spot on the u.s. team for the beijing winter olympics next month. by juliet macur as the black lives matter movement advanced, the ice became a platform for athletes who are also artists. by patrice peck adam schmidt had accused u.s. figure skating, the sport’s national governing body, of failing to protect him from sexual abuse by richard callaghan, a once prominent coach of olympians. by michael levenson accusations of sexual misconduct against richard callaghan, who coached tara lipinski to an olympic gold medal in 1998, have been ongoing for two decades. by jeré longman

gracie gold was having a bad night. the 18 year old figure skater was about a minute and a half into her free skate at the u.s. international classic in september when she singled a double axel. it was a significant mistake a loss of a couple of points but for a disciplined skater, that kind of error shouldn't have resulted in disaster. gold, though, started to come undone. upon flubbing the axel, she proceeded to botch her next three jumps, too, and when she wasn't botching her jumps she was skating with a listless and distracted air. she wound up placing second in a competition she should easily have won. it was the story of gold's young career: enormous, olympic level talent, coupled with a reputation for getting the yips in the big moment. four months later, when gold took the ice for the u.s. national championships, her skating told a different story. she had the speed and energy of her best previous performances, along with a newfound sense of discipline and style. even her costumes had matured: less cinderella, more grace kelly. over the course of her two programs, gold easily snatched the crown from reigning u.s. champion ashley wagner, winning her first national title and a ticket to sochi. on the surface, gold's newfound steeliness seemed like a surprising about face. but the truth is that in the months since her september disappointment, she had moved to california to train with frank carroll, a strict, business like skating guru known for getting his skaters out of their own heads. and that, it turns out, is exactly what gold needed. carroll has been coaching for over 40 years, and the septuagenarian made his name alongside some of the most legendary skaters in american history. former and current students include michelle kwan (five time world champion and olympic silver and bronze medalist), evan lysacek (olympic gold medalist in 2010), linda fratianne (two time world champion and olympic silver medalist), timothy goebel (olympic bronze), denis ten (who won bronze in the men's competition in sochi) and mirai nagasu (who placed fourth at the games in vancouver and just missed out on a trip to sochi this year). given his advancing age, carroll has delegated some of the more physical elements of his job to other instructors. he has a physical trainer to assist his students with their off ice practice, and a bolshoi trained ballet coach to help them develop grace and style. he works with choreographers like lori nichol to ensure his students' programs are artistic and original, and he calls in friends and officials to help him evaluate those programs for technical difficulty and scoring value. much of what carroll himself provides, in addition to on ice technique, is a mental edge, an internal toughness and perspective, that allows his skaters to see themselves as champions and then to become them. "frank carroll knows what his skaters need to do to win, and he finds a way to get them to do it," said kristi yamaguchi, a 1992 olympic gold medalist. "with gracie, i think, it was giving her confidence and keeping her focused through a full competition. he's mastered [the art of] being able to bring out the best in his skaters, and knowing how to deal with each them depending on their personalities." "there's a difference between being a coach and being a teacher," carroll told me in december. "teaching involves being able to on pass knowledge about how to do a skill; how to teach someone to use their body to do a jump, or use their feet to create speed, or how to make a spin go faster. a coach is somebody who can prepare people for competition and give them a philosophy about how to be champions, how to deal with the disappointments and the triumphs, how to budget their time. and a coach teaches them the philosophy of being a competitor." this involves a little roleplaying. from the first day carroll begins working with a skater, he emphasizes the importance of carrying oneself like a champion. "i tell the student to pretend i am a very mean, cranky, nasty judge, and that i want to see them go on the ice and warm up as they would at a competition. not their jumping, not their spinning, but their stroking and skating," he said, referring to the brief group warm up sessions skaters are allowed before taking the ice in competition. "i tell them, 'i want you to convince me, by the way you step on the ice and the way you move around, that you're the very best skater in this group.' then i'll let them loose, and i'll see what their idea of impressing people is." in other sports, coaches tend to get too much credit for their supposed guru like ability to unlock "the winner within," as if the athletes themselves were nothing more than unformed masses of pure potentiality, in need of only an expert molder. but figure skating, at its uppermost levels, is a little different. athletic tools are fairly evenly distributed across the sport. the top skaters in sochi this year are performing similar combinations of the same moves, which means the final standings come down to who performs them best. the sport is psychological attrition disguised as judged competition. a top 10 skater who executes the performance of a lifetime could find her way onto the podium, while a single fall could knock a reigning champion out of the running. with such a thin margin separating the best from the very good, the intangibles the ability to not come unglued, say do matter. for the top competitors, it's all about handling the pressure. gracie gold, flanked by coaches scott brown (left) and frank carroll, celebrates after her free skate during the national championships in january. photo by matthew stockman/getty images. and there is a lot of pressure. competing as an elite skater can cost upwards of $60,000 per year, and earning money as an amateur is very difficult unless you're an international star who can book lucrative endorsements. (see: yuna kim.) over the years of training, parents make sacrifices. siblings make sacrifices. the athletes, obviously, make sacrifices. "i'm one of five kids, and i just felt everyone in my family had sacrificed so much," said linda fratianne, who competed in the 1976 and 1980 games. "there's so much pressure. so you have to mentally turn it around and not blow it up in your head as a do or die moment. because that will overwhelm you." this is where carroll comes in. carroll has spent a lifetime getting in his students' heads, and he's come up with what appears to be an effective formula for helping his skaters deal with competitive pressure: extreme repetition and emotional detachment. he insists his skaters repeatedly do full run throughs of their programs, and, unlike many of his peers, he will not tolerate a skater who stops midway through the routine due to a fall or a mistake. "you have to prepare them for any mishap during a program," he said. "that means if you have a fall [in practice], you get up quickly and you go on. if you are doing a program you never complain. you prepare the best you can so that at the moment of test, when you're putting them on the ice, you can say to them, 'you do this program every single day, all the way through, and you do it extremely well or perfectly. get out there and do it like you do it, because this is just another practice day.'" you could hear a little echo of carroll in gold's comments to reporters after nationals. "when people go in and they want to make a performance that olympic moment, they just end up getting tied into knots," gold said. "i don't think i have to do anything extraordinary. i just have to do my job to the best of my ability just my best average even and i think i'll be pretty good." "it's all about tunnel vision for me," gold said. carroll does everything he can to keep distractions off the ice. when students refuse to practice their programs, he threatens to stop coaching them. if they curse or throw a fit, he kicks them out of practice for the day, and lets security deal with the rest. he refuses to engage emotionally. "if you see your coach getting emotionally worked up, it just gives his students the opportunity to be the same way," said mauro bruni, one of carroll's former skaters. "he'll never get wrapped up in the emotion. he never raises his voice. he's very businesslike on the ice, and i found that different from other coaches i'd worked with in the past. he's calm, straight to the point. there's no bullshit." "if my eyes would start to well up because i was having a bad day, he'd say, 'i don't want to see any tears today,'" recalled fratianne. "i never crossed frank or pushed back against frank; if i ever got angry, it was mostly at myself." "i don't want to hear, you're emotionally upset. i don't want to hear, this didn't go right. i don't want whining. i want training," carroll said. "the only way to have success is through preparation and, yes, i understand you're nervous, but i don't care. neither do the judges care. no one cares. what they want to see you do is get through this program from the start to the finish very, very well." not everyone thrives under carroll's exacting demands, though, and not everyone is able to mark a clean detachment between his or her life and what happens after taking the ice. "i think that the skaters that get him the most are the ones who are willing to really show his level of commitment," said scott hamilton, an nbc commentator and olympic gold medalist. "look at michelle kwan she totally answered his commitment and his work ethic, and that was a great source of power for her. and evan lysacek same thing nobody works harder than evan. i think those are the skaters that get the most out of frank." by contrast, he has had a harder time working with skaters (or skaters' parents) who won't go all in on the carroll method. nagasu split with him in april 2012, and carroll has since referenced emotional problems and a lack of discipline as one source of strife between them. carroll booted u.s. champion tiffany chin from his roster because he couldn't handle her mother, who he said interfered with and second guessed his training. (chin's mother is also famous for a 1986 television interview in which she interrupted her daughter the subject of the interview to berate her for being lazy.) and there was christopher bowman, a u.s. champion and two time olympian, famous for his larger than life personality, who struggled with drug addiction for years before dying of an overdose in 2008, long after he and carroll had stopped working together. carroll has since discussed the anger and frustration he felt working with bowman, not just because of his erratic and deceptive behavior toward him as a coach, but also because he was unable to reach his considerable potential. "you cannot save them all," carroll said. "you can do the very best you can to give them a philosophy of being fair and to evaluate things honestly, but sometimes if they're a highly emotional person, and they have demons in their head, and they're unable to set aside these demons, it can be ugly and impossible." even michelle kwan, who worked with carroll for the majority of her competitive career, announced in 2001 she was splitting with her longtime coach just four months before the 2002 olympics. carroll suggested in interviews at the time that she had become distracted by her newfound fame and fortune. "when michelle kwan was at the top of her game, she was a rock star in our country. you have no idea," he told me. "i mean, i have been walking down streets with her in cities when people start screaming and chasing her. you would think it was elvis presley or something." when a skater reaches heights like that, he said, "it draws them away from the connection with you sometimes. they have the media and the world telling them they're an angel sent by god down to the earth to perform, and you're the cranky old man in the ice rink saying, 'you know what, i didn't like the way you just did that triple flip.' and so it does drive a little bit of a wedge between you." nevertheless, he tries to prepare his students for this, just as he tries to prepare them for everything else. "if you can get into their heads, so they know this is a scenario that may come up, you can try to prepare them. for all of this stuff, you try to keep it straight with them," he said. "but there are always people pulling them in a different direction. always." carroll has made it a point throughout his career not to be a surrogate parent to his skaters, and in part it's this attitude of omniscient detachment that makes him so good as a coach. he has a set of tools that he passes on to his students, and these tools, he says, are the keys to success. there's nothing particularly special about them; in fact, they're very basic, which is the point. in a sport so given to emotional superabundance that it sends its competitors to a designated "kiss and cry" area, carroll has tried to reduce performance to a dispassionate sum of hard work and psychological robustness. emotions, his method suggests, can be shaped and trained like any muscle. "i don't think i have all the answers about how to be a coach, how to be a trainer, how to be a dietician, how to be a philosophy builder, but i think i have a pretty good mind and i think that i make good decisions. and, you know, my kids have done very well over the years," carroll said. he paused. "what am i trying to say? i believe in my own philosophy. hallelujah." lucy madison is a nyc based writer and reporter. her work has appeared at the awl, the hairpin, interview, cbs news, and more. you can follow her on twitter here. top image by jim cooke. copyright 2025

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supported by his roster of students also included linda fratianne, but he did not coach an olympic gold medalist until evan lysacek won in 2010. by richard sandomir frank carroll, who coached elite figure skaters like michelle kwan and linda fratianne to silver medals in the olympics but who had to wait until the 2010 winter games in vancouver to see one of his students, evan lysacek, win gold, died on sunday at his home in palm springs, calif. he was 85. the cause was complications of colorectal cancer, ann jensen, his personal assistant, said in an email. no immediate family members survive. as he approached 60, carroll expressed amazement at the route he took to become one of the top figure skating coaches in the united states. “when i’m on the eiffel tower, in the jules verne restaurant, i think, ‘what am i doing here?’” he told the los angeles times in 1998. “in my mind, i’m still just a kid from worcester, mass., skating on a frozen pond.” carroll strayed far from that pond. over his decades long career, he became known for his tactical skills, his outspokenness and his dapper appearance. in all, he coached one olympic champion, six olympic medalists, three world champions, three world junior champions and six united states champions.

 e edition get the latest news delivered daily! get the latest news delivered daily! e edition trending: by dave skretta ap sports writer longtime figure skating coach frank carroll, who over the course of a 60 year career helped guide six olympic medalists at 10 winter games, including michelle kwan and evan lysacek, died sunday. he was 85. u.s. figure skating, with whom carroll worked closely for decades, announced his death. it said carroll died sunday “after a battle with cancer.” “frank was everything i could have hoped for in a coach and more,” kwan said in a post on social media. “he was never short on words, always providing feedback with a mix of directness, love and unwavering support.”