Jill Watson

Who is Jill Watson?

Jill Watson is an American retired pair skater and coach. With her partner Peter Oppegard, she is the 1988 Olympic bronze medalist and a three-time U.S. national champion.

Watson was initially paired with Burt Lancon, with whom she won two national bronze medals in 1983 and 1984. She began competing with Oppegard in 1985. In their career, Watson and Oppegard won three national titles, a world bronze medal, an Olympic bronze medal, and various other medals. During Watson and Oppegard's free skate at the 1988 Olympics, a photographer dropped his camera bag onto the ice and an usher walked onto the ice to pick it up while the pair was performing a death spiral on the other side of the rink.

She is now a coach at the Desert Schools Coyotes Center in the United States. She coached Rena Inoue/John Baldwin for five seasons.

Jill Watson and Peter Oppegard were inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2004.