Linda Fratianne - 1980 World Championships Long Program

Despite finishing 3rd in the short program and 1st in the long program, Linda Fratianne wound up 3rd overall at the 1980 World Figure Skating Championships in Dortmund, West Germany due to compulsory figures.

[@russianskatingfan]

I agree totally. What was pathetic was she even lost 2nd in the free skate to Poetzsch who had mistakes in her performance.

[@russianskatingfan]

Yes Watanabe absolutely should have won the long program here. Placing her below even a subpar Poetzsch was a farce. It was too bad Marie Allen and Biellmann did not have better skates. Yeah I pretty much agree with your long program marks for the top 4 though.

[@barkingtree88]

I personally think Watanabe should have won the freeskate.

[@russianskatingfan]

This was just a boring era for womens skating. Fratianne and Poetzsch were good skaters but I actually prefered Watanabe, Lisa Marie Allen, Biellmann, to both of them, but I guess those others were not good enough in figures or something else. Fratianne and Poetzsch were the top two of this era and both were good but forgettable. Lurz you are right totally sucks and the fact she was on the podium so often in this era really shows how lacking it was.

[@ralphbourgeois5875]

It is an abolute disgrace she beat Watanabe for the bronze at this event. Yet another Fratianne gift medal she didnt earn on the ice, but won with politics and Frank Caroll's massive politiking and influence on the sport behind the scenes.

[@nondescriptnyc]

@russianskatingfan I've seen the ISU footages of the SP, and Watanabe probably should have won SP as well--by a large margin. Denise did a 3T combo but Watanabe's overall quality and speed were far beyond everone else's. I think It helped that Watanabe had switched the placement of her jumps after Lake Placid.

[@bonejack7359]

extremely beautiful

[@metsdudenj]

This was a more inspired performance than Lake Placid and she got fucked with the judging, Dagmar Lurz sucks and got silver because she was a NATIVE of Dortmund; skating was and is such a sham!

[@peppe201]

@MTVMANN She did only a double salchow/ double loop jump combination in the short.

[@christopher1980]

Denise Biellmann was 1st in the short program. I have to correct the description above, Linda was only 3rd in the short program (Emi Watanabe was 2nd)

[@lexlib]

how the heck did she finished 3rd overall when her overall points total is higher than Dagmar Lurz?

[@Zuranthium]

What about Beillmann? Does anyone have a video of her performance from this Worlds?

[@matthough3590]

It is on KZbin; I've watched it here. She crashed down badly on her triple lutz and then doubled all of her other triples finishing sixth in the event. I wonder if she was sick.

[@nondescriptnyc]

@@matthough3590Denise was highly inconsistent during the 1979-1980 season. I saw her at Norton Skate in Lake Placid in October (?) of 1979, where she gave a disastrous FS, landing no triples-just like she did at the Dortmund Worlds later that season. In fact, the only decent performance she gave that season was at the Lake Placid games.

[@Rouben19]

I was in a show with Linda for 3 years on the road, she almost never had friendships with other skaters and as the highest paid person by thousands -never once did anything for the supporting cast at that time she was controled by NM

[@MTVMANN]

What happened in her SP?

[@metsdudenj]

I did hear she was not an overly friendly person and kept to herself most of the time.

[@dsfddsgh]

Wow i didn't even recognize Frank Carroll with the beard. LOL

[@KK-hp1sx]

４年後，西独ルーベンのフリープログラムは、これと殆ど同じだった。フラチアニは、動きは良かったけれど、演技が流れ作業みたいで、どこか印象に残りにくい。損なタイプだ。

[@galileocan]

Figure Skating is not a sport and never was. It doesn't even deserve to be ranked in the category of professional wrestling even. Linda Fratianne finished 3rd to the winning performance by Annete Poetzch which was ridiculous and terrible. No wonder no one watches this "sport" any longer. It is fixed and insults the intelligence of any fan who watches. Obscene result

[@nondescriptnyc]

Galileocan g I don’t know if you forgot what the rules were like before 1981. Fratianne won the FS here but that pretty much didn’t matter given the HUGE weight placed on CF based on the scoring rule that went from 1973 to 1980 (which was an improvement from the pre-1973 rule, which didn’t involve SP)-plus she was lucky to have placed 3rd w/ her 2S-2L combo in SP. If you are thinking the final placements should have been determined solely by the SP and FS portions, FYI, the combined SP + FS placements at this competition were as follows: (1) Fratianne; (2) Watanabe; and (3) Poetzsch. While I would have loved to see Watanabe win both SP and FS, I also understand that the judging standards were different back then.

[@tylerbam7183]

Linda in fact was way overrated and gifted. She wasnt good in figures like Poetzsch or Lurz, and Watanabe, Marie Allen, and Biellmann are way better in free skating and got no credit from the judges for it. And what is stylish about a boring as fuck Carmen with 10 year old choreography. The overscoring of Americans like Fratianne and Nathan Chen are a big reason Europeans dont watch the sport anymore.

[@dawnreliford4930]

Don't drag Nathan Chen's name through the mud.His artistic quality has improved greatly over the past two years. Where as Linda's went down hill after winning the 1977 worlds.

[@tylerbam7183]

@@dawnreliford4930 Yeah but the judges treat him like a god. He gets higher GOE, PCS, and base value (base value is the only inarguable) than everyone else. At this point he could drop down and do only 1 quad and I bet he would beat a perfect Hanyu with 4. He is way better than Fratianne in everyway, I agree.

[@waynehentley4332]

​@@tylerbam7183Nonsense!!!