In
1984 Katarina Witt was voted as The GDR female athlete
of the year by the readers of the East-German newspaper
Junge Welt.
In 1987 she recaptured the World Championship title,
which she lost in the previous year to Debi Thomas. Many
people consider her performance at this event to be the
finest of her career.
In 1988 Witt started a professional career, which was
very unusual for East German athletes. At first she
spent three years on tour in the United States with
Brian Boitano, also a Gold Medal winner at the Winter
Olympics in figure skating. Their show "Witt and Boitano
Skating" was so successful that for the first time in
ten years New York's Madison Square Garden was sold out
for an ice show. Later she continued at Holiday on Ice
in the USA and in Western Europe.
She also became an actress in the film Carmen on Ice
(1989), which expanded upon her Gold Medal freestyle
routine at Calgary. In 1990, she received an Emmy Award
for her role in this film.
In 1994 she had a comeback to the competitive skating
scene. She was again coached by Jutta Mόller and
qualified for the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, where
she came in 7th place. Especially her free program to
the music Sag mir wo die Blumen stehen was remarkable
for the artistic impression including a peace message
for the people of Sarajavo, the place of her first
Olympic victory. She received the Golden Camera for her
Olympic comeback. In the same year she published her
autobiography Meine Jahre zwischen Pflicht und Kόr (My
Years between Compulsaries and Freestyle).
In 1995 she was admitted to the World Figure Skating
Hall of Fame.
On the cover of Playboy, December 1998In 1998 Katarina
Witt posed n--- for Playboy Magazine. The issue in which
these photos were published was the second sold out
issue of this magazine. The first sold out issue
included photos of Marilyn Monroe. Many were surprised
by the extent of the
In 1999 she was voted as "Most favourite Female Athlete
in the United States". In the same year she was also
voted as the "Most favourite Female Skater of the
Century".
Witt has been known for her beauty and s-- appeal as
well as for her athleticism. Time magazine called her
the most beautiful face of socialism. At the peak of
her career, she was thought by some to resemble Brooke
Shields, both of whom were in their late teens / early
20s at the time.
Witt's taste in figure skating costumes sometimes raised
eyebrows. At the 1983 European championships she skated
her Mozart short program in knee breeches instead of a
skirt. Her blue skirtless feather-trimmed 1988 costume
for a showgirl-themed short program was considered too
theatrical and s--y, and led to a change in the ISU
regulations which required female skaters to wear more
modest clothing with skirts. In 1994, skating a Robin
Hood-themed program, she again pushed the boundaries of
the costume regulations by wearing not a skirt but a
short tunic over leggings.
Results
Olympic Games
1994 7. Place
World Championships
European Championships
1979 14. Place
1994 8. Place
GDR-Championships (Nationals)
1979 3. Place
German National Championships (after the
reunification)
1994 2. Place
Katarina Witt Biography and Pictures
