Frank Carroll, who coached Michelle Kwan, other figure skating champs, dead at 85

Frank Carroll, a figure skater and mentor who coached Michelle Kwan and other Olympic, world and national champions, died Sunday. He was 85.

Carroll died in Palm Springs, California, after a battle with cancer, USA Today reported.

The U.S. Figure Skating Association confirmed Carroll’s death in a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“U.S. Figure Skating mourns the loss of coaching legend Frank Carroll,” the statement read. “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.”

During his career, Carroll coached Kwan, Evan Lysacek, Timothy Goebel and Linda Fratianne, USA Today reported.

He was born in 1938 in Worcester, Massachusetts, according to People. He was introduced to figure skating by his father.

After graduating from Holy Cross with a degree in education, Carroll joined the touring show Ice Follies for $250 a week in 1960, according to USA Today.

Eventually switching to competitive skating, Carroll won three medals at the national level before becoming a coach in the 1960s, according to NBC Sports.

Carroll coached Kwan to the 1994 World junior title, four senior world crowns and nine national titles, the news outlet reported. She also won a silver medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.

Carroll coached Lysacek to two Olympics (2006, 2010), guiding him to a gold medal at the Vancouver Winter Games in 2010, NBC Sports reported.

He also trained Olympians Gracie Gold, Denis Ten and Timothy Goebel, according to People. Gold won bronze at the 2014 Olympics and Goebel won bronze in 2002, the magazine reported. He also coached Tiffany Chin and Christopher Bowman, USA Today reported.

Carroll was inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 1996 and the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2007. He was also inducted into the Professional Skaters Association Hall of Fame in 2002 and received a lifetime achievement award from the International Skating Institute in 2015.

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