Katarina Witt
Katarina Witt
Katarina Wittis a retired German figure skater. Witt won two Olympic gold medals for East Germany, first at the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics and the second in 1988 at the Calgary Olympics. She is a four-time World championand twice World silver medalist. A feat only equalled by Sonja Henie among female skaters, Witt won six consecutive European Championships. Her competitive record makes her one of the most successful figure skaters of all time...
NationalityGerman
ProfessionFigure Skater
Date of Birth3 December 1965
CityBerlin, Germany
CountryGermany
I never really like to skate in an empty ice rink; I always need the attention of an audience.
I never had a serious injury that kept me out of a big competition. Now everyone has injuries - to their feet or their knees or their backs.
Too many times women try to be competitive with each other. We should help support each other, rather than try to be better than each other.
It's hard work to make a four-minute program look effortless and elegant.
The feeling of losing oneself in somebody's arms, yet at the same time finding oneself there, is irreplaceable. Nothing compares to the intensity of that feeling.
I was the very first athlete in East Germany allowed to go professional.
Sometimes, success almost haunts you. You want to be the best at everything you do and know you have to work hard.
When you reach a certain level, you live in a bubble when all you think, dream and breathe is becoming the best athlete in the world.
As an athlete, you choose your sport and are drawn into it but your passion should never be driven by fame and fortune but a desire to create something special that people will always remember.
When I go our on the ice, I just think about my skating. I forget it is a competition.
Sometimes I even now feel like a stranger in my country. But I knew there would be problems because I had seen the world as a skater. And now? A lot of people in eastern Germany have lost jobs, rents went up, food costs went up, unemployment went to 20 percent. Freedom is good, but it is not easy.
When you're young, you don't think very far ahead. You just think in terms of the next day, the next week, the next competition. You don't think about injuries that could threaten your long-term health.
I don't want to compete. I want to skate for the joy. I get so nervous in competition. I get always sick. I had pressures enough in my life from skating.
When you see the audiences and the smiling faces at the shows it really makes up for the work that you put in. I have a job I really love so whatever hecticness comes up - I'll just deal with it.