She too became a trainer, and for more than 40 years they were a splendid partnership. Each had qualities that complemented the other, to the benefit of their pupils.Fassi’s great opportunity came in 1961 when he was appointed chief instructor at the Broadmoor Ice Rink in the United States. Soon the world’s most gifted skaters were travelling to Colorado Springs for tuition, among them Peggy Fleming of California. She was a perfectionist, a quiet, concentrated artist whose skating seemed to be a private communion between herself and the ice.
The Fassis coached her to three world titles and the Olympic gold medal in 1968.The Fassi teaching style owed its success to its flexibility. As he wrote in his 1980 textbook Figure Skating With Carlo Fassi: “A good teacher has to adjust his or her technique to the ability and personality of each skater. The best technique for one skater may not be the best for another.” The value of this approach became particularly evident in 1976 when two Fassi pupils of greatly differing personality each won world and Olympic gold medals One was Dorothy Hamill, the other John Curry. Hamill later described how Fassi was “able to tune in to his students’ moves If we were just being lazy, he showed no mercy. But if we were truly upset, he would say kindly, ‘Go on home.’ “John Curry, a skater of genius, wrote that, at first, “I did not like Mr Fassi and Mr Fassi did not like me”.
But very quickly, with the tactful aid of Christa Fassi, they “got along together; in fact we soon enjoyed each other’s company.” Curry’s final verdict was: “Mr Fassi is the best trainer in the world.”Four years later, Robin Cousins was also to benefit from Fassi’s tuition. He won the 1980 European Championship as well as Olympic Gold. He has described Fassi as “a tremendous morale booster and very good at giving you confidence. he could make people feel they could win”.Another title came Fassi’s way in 1990 when Jill Trenary of the United States became world champion. She is now the wife of the skater Christopher Dean.During the 20 or so years when I was the Times’s skating correspondent I met Fassi often I could always rely on him for an honest opinion.
