ISU

 

Michelle Kwan (USA) and Frank Carroll during the 1998 World Figure Skating Championships in Minneapolis (USA) @GettyImages

It is with regret and sorrow that the ISU learned of the passing of legendary Figure Skating coach Mr. Francis (Frank) M. Carroll who passed away at age 85 on June 9, 2024.

Frank Carroll was born in Worcester, Massachusetts on July 11, 1938 and started to skate in his early teens when a skating rink opened nearby. Coached by Maribel Vinson Owen, he won two bronze medals at the U.S. National Junior Championships in 1959 and 1960. He retired from competitive skating and joined the Ice Follies show for four and a half years. Mr. Carroll then went into acting and appeared in the mid-60s in a few movies when a friend suggested to him to teach Figure Skating. In the 1965/66 season, Mr. Carroll started coaching at a rink in a Los Angeles suburb and he found his true calling.

Mirai Nagasu (USA) with Frank Carroll during the  2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver (CAN) @GettyImages

Mr. Carroll became soon a successful coach with his students winning medals at the National Championships, first in the Novice and then in the senior-level categories. In 1976, he went to his first of ten Olympic Winter Games with his student Linda Fratianne.

Mr. Carroll became one of the most prominent Figure Skating coaches not only in the USA but in the World. He coached Linda Fratianne to two World titles and Olympic silver in 1980. He took Michelle Kwan as a student when she was 11 years old and under his tutelage, she won four World titles and Olympic silver in 1998. Kwan left Carroll only a few months before the Olympic Winter Games in 2002 where she went without a coach and earned the bronze. Mr. Carroll’s students also included 2010 Olympic Champion Evan Lysacek, 2014 Olympic bronze medalist Denis Ten (KAZ) and 2002 Olympic bronze medalist Timothy Goebel.

Mr. Carroll officially retired from coaching in 2018 but still was involved in the sport he loved and had shaped over the decades.

“He changed the lives of every skater and parent he came across,” Michelle Kwan said in an interview on the occasion of Mr. Carroll’s 80^th birthday.

“Frank was old school meets modern and new school, very adaptable. He made the transition from Linda in the 70s and Christopher (Bowman) in the 80s to the 90s and 2000s.  He was relevant throughout.”

“He owns just as much of more of my Olympic gold medal as I do,” Evan Lysacek said about his coach that took him to the top of the sport.

Evan Lysacek (USA) and Frank Carroll during the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver (CAN) @GettyImages

“Today we lost a legend in skating. My heart is heavy as I write this message”, Japanese-American Skater Daisuke Murakami wrote on Instagram.

“Thank you Frank for the legacy you will leave in our sport. From traveling all over the world together, to long phone calls about life, I’ll never forget your kind heart and encouraging words that lit up any room. We spent many hours on the ice together and you taught me how to be respectful, disciplined, and speak my mind freely. I’m grateful I was able to be with you until the very end.”

Frank Carroll passed away peacefully surrounded by his loved ones and friends on June 9, 2024 after battling cancer.

Mr. Carroll will be remembered for his significant contribution to the sport of Figure Skating, his humor, kindness and expertise.  

The ISU pays tribute to Mr. Carroll and will remember him with affection.