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Katarina witt biography. Katarina Witt is a symbol of figure skating. End of career and return

In the late eighties and early nineties, the name of Katarina Witt was known to everyone who had anything to do with figure skating. She was called the princess of ice. In all history, there was not a single figure skater who could compare with her.

German figure skater Katarina Witt: childhood and the beginning of a sports career

Kati was born in the city of Staaken (GDR) on December 3, 1965 in the family of an agronomist and an instructor in therapeutic exercises. In addition to her, the eldest son Axel grew up in the family. Kindergarten, which little Katya visited, was not far from the skating rink, and the girl from the windows of her room watched the training of athletes for a long time. At home, she indulged in dreams in which she performed various tricks while standing on skates. Parents did not think to send their daughter to a sports club, but the mother could not resist the persuasion of her favorite. And one day, taking five-year-old Katya by the hand, she took her to the figure skating section. It turned out that the admission had already ended, they were advised to come at the beginning of the next academic year. However, when the coach saw how the little girl, having put on skates for the first time, began to slide smoothly on the ice, she decided to make an exception for her. So only daughter Witt family Katarina became 101 students of the first class of the East Berlin figure skating school. By the end of the academic year, of all the students in the section, only one remained, namely the future two-time Olympic champion Katarina Witt.

Way to victory

When Katya went to school, the girl began a very busy weekdays. After school, she went to the skating rink, and spent the evenings studying. However, she managed to get good grades. At the age of nine, one of the most famous in the GDR, Jutta Müller, drew attention to her. She saw in a pretty girl big sport ive potential and decided to make her a champion. It was under her leadership that the young Witt Katarina was able to win all her gold medals.

A very warm relationship developed between the coach and the girl. She was for her both a mother, and an older friend, and a mentor. As Katya later admits, she was always a little afraid of the coach. However, this did not stop Katarina from playing pranks: disrupting training, going to all sorts of tricks so that the scales did not show her true weight, eating several cakes at once, etc. The girl was sweet, so she almost always had a problem excess weight. And if it were not for her hard work and perseverance, the world would not have known about the figure skater Witt. Katarina for many years stubbornly walked to the top of fame. And in 1979, the fourteen-year-old figure skater was sent to represent the country at the World Championships, where she took 10th place. However, a year later, Katya became the gold medalist of the GDR championship.

Sports victories and awards

During her sports career, she managed to win more than 20 international awards. She is a four-time world champion (1984-1988, with the exception of 1986), a two-time Olympic champion (1984 and 1988), a six-time European champion and an eight-time (in a row) champion of the GDR. After winning the 1988 Olympics, she left big sport.

Return to the ice

But soon the world was talking about the German figure skater Witt again. Katarina in 1994 took part in the film "Carmen on Ice", for which she received an Emmy award. And 4 years later, with a show program during demonstration performances at the Winter Olympics and in honor of her return to the ice, she received the Golden Camera prize. And after 4 years she starred in the feature film "Ronnie". In the same year, Playboy magazine finally came to an agreement with the figure skater, and Katarina Witt appeared in a completely new role. Photos of her toned naked body soon appeared on the pages of this erotic publication for men. With her act, she challenged the whole world, because her rivals, figure skaters from other countries, often gloated because of her excess weight.

A month before the start of the Sochi Olympics, we publish a series of articles dedicated to the legendary German champions. And our first heroine is a famous figure skater who played for the GDR.

“Every day I minced in the company of my girlfriends from kindergarten to the skating rink and knew: this is mine - to skate and jump when others look at you. I want exactly this. And I know for a fact that I can do it,” wrote Katarina Witt in her 1994 autobiography, My Years Between Compulsory and Free Skating.

Early success

Katarina Witt was born on December 3, 1965 near Berlin. She took her first steps in figure skating at the age of five at the sports school in Karl-Marx-Stadt (now Chemnitz). There, the famous coach Jutta Müller drew attention to her. She quickly recognized the future champion in the little girl.

Witt achieved her first major success in 1983 at the European Championships in Dortmund, and a year later she became the champion of the Olympic Games in Sarajevo. We can safely say that in the 1980s, Katarina Witt had no equal in women's figure skating. From 1983 to 1988, she was the European champion, four times climbed to the top step of the podium at the world championships, and in 1988 in Calgary she became the Olympic champion for the second time.

Socialism or capitalism?

Together with fame, all the pompous attributes of the “official” sport, which in the GDR has always been inseparable from politics, entered the life of an athlete. Katharina Witt often had to be photographed with members of the Politburo, to be a participant in congresses and other official ceremonies. She did this extremely reluctantly, since she already belonged to a new generation of East German youth - free and oriented towards democratic values.

After the Olympic Games in Calgary in 1988, it finally became clear that the "beautiful granddaughter of Marx's grandfather" turned into an all-German sports idol, who was equally worshiped both in the GDR and in the FRG. It tore down the Berlin Wall that existed in the minds of West and East Germans.

Katarina Witt enjoyed the freedom of movement due to her work. In November 1988, Witt decided to give up her sports career and broke one of the main taboos of "socialist sport" by signing a contract with the American ice ballet Holiday on Ice. Thus, she took another step in the direction of show business, from which, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, she will become inseparable. In the GDR, her participation in the American show became a sensation. Katarina's success as a professional figure skater has surpassed all expectations.

After the Wall

Thanks to the changed rules, in 1994 she returned to big sport and took part in the Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer. And although there she failed to win the champion title for the third time (she took seventh place), Katharina's fans rejoiced at her performance.

In 1998, Witt posed nude for Playboy. This issue has become one of the most successful in the history of the men's magazine. Only twice did its circulation sell out completely, to a single copy: when the cover featured a portrait of Marilyn Monroe and when photographs of Katarina Witt were published in the magazine.
From "the most beautiful face of socialism" to "the goat of the SED"

For many years, the GDR bathed in the glory and sporting success of the figure skater. And not only that: the ice princess also replenished the state treasury, giving 80 percent of her proceeds. At the same time, the favorite of the functionaries enjoyed some privileges: a car donated to her by the state and Dishwasher caused numerous reproaches brought against the figure skater by compatriots after the peaceful revolution in the GDR. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Katarina Witt became the object of harsh criticism. If earlier the media called her nothing more than “the most beautiful face of socialism”, now the tabloid press has nicknamed the skater “the SED goat”.

Since 1992, accusations have appeared in the press that the athlete worked for the state security services of the GDR. Witt is seeking a court decision to stop exaggerating such rumors by a number of publishers. In 2001, she applied to a Berlin court in an attempt to prevent the publication of a secret dossier filed on her by the East German secret police. Subsequently, the skater was forced to agree to this, but stated that such a publication is an invasion of her personal life.

Secret Stasi files filed on Katarina Witt indicate that since 1973 she has been under continuous surveillance. Part of the dossier is now available to the public. The content of these documents was a shock for the athlete herself. “Some things I would rather never know. I was not a scammer, just as I was not a member of the resistance movement,” Witt wrote in her autobiography.

Outside the rink

She starred in films and television films, playing either herself or athletes with a similar fate, became the host of several popular television shows, including an analogue of the Russian Ice Age, and developed a series of jewelry named after the champion. In 2005, the skater created the charitable foundation Katarina Witt Stiftung. Its tasks include helping children living in regions affected by natural disasters, supporting children with disabilities and much more.

Katarina Witt actively lobbied for Munich to host the 2018 Winter Olympics, officially representing the city at various events. But, as is now known, this enterprise was not crowned with success. The Munich residents themselves opposed the holding of the Olympics in their city, and the competition will eventually be held in South Korean Pyeongchang.

There have always been many rumors about the personal life of Katarina Witt. She was even credited with an affair with Erich Honecker, the state leader of the GDR. She has never been married and has no children. Among the more or less "official" boyfriends were seen German musicians Ingo Politz (Ingo Politz) and Rolf Brandel (Rolf Brendel), as well as American actors Richard Dean Anderson and Danny Huston.

Foto: Vida Press

Over the past 30 years, seven figure skaters have become Olympic champions in women's singles - from German Katarina Witt to Korean Yuna Kim. Favorites of millions, sex symbols and teenage girls: what happened to the Olympic champions after their finest hour?

Our story would be incomplete without mentioning the figure skaters, who never won gold, but left a bright and long mark in the history of figure skating.

Photo: AP/Scanpix

Katarina Witt dominated women's figure skating in the 80s. The future figure skating star was born in 1965 near Berlin, represented the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and won two Olympic gold medals - in 1984 in Sarajevo and in 1988 in Calgary. From 1983 to 1988 she was consistently European champion and also won four gold medals at the world championships.

In 1988, Witt left her sports career and signed a contract with the American ice ballet Holiday on Ice. In the GDR, her participation in the American show became a sensation.

Katarina's success as a professional figure skater has surpassed all expectations. After allowing professionals to compete at the Olympics, she took part in her third Winter Olympics in 1994, where she took 7th place.

Foto: Reuters/Scanpix

The Ice Princess also replenished the state treasury of the GDR, giving 80 percent of its revenue, and enjoyed the immense support of the then socialist leadership of the country, but after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Katarina Witt became the object of sharp criticism. If earlier the media called her nothing more than "the most beautiful face of socialism", now the tabloid press has nicknamed the skater "the SED goat", hinting at her connections with the state security service of the GDR.

Witt also starred in films and television films, playing either herself or athletes with a similar fate, became the host of several popular television shows, and developed a series of jewelry named after the champion.

In 1998, in the film "Ronin" she starred in the episodic role of the Russian figure skater Natasha Kirillova. And in 2012 Witt played leading role in the TV movie "The Enemy in My Life". According to the scenario, a famous figure skater is preparing for the show, and at this time she is being pursued by an anonymous person who cannot be identified by the police. According to Witt, when he performed in the United States, she herself fell into a similar situation.

In 2005, the skater created the charitable foundation Katarina Witt Stiftung. In 2008, Witt decided to finally say goodbye to ice. Today, 49-year-old Katarina is a TV commentator and businesswoman.

There have always been many rumors about the personal life of Katarina Witt. She was even credited with an affair with Erich Honecker, the state leader of the GDR. She has never been married and has no children. Among the "official" boyfriends were German musicians Ingo Politz and Rolf Brandel, as well as American actors Richard Dean Anderson and Danny Huston.

Foto: Vida Press

Christy Yamaguchi is an American figure skater who won a gold medal at the 1992 Olympics in Albertville. She is a two-time world champion (1991, 1992). In 2005, Yamaguchi was inducted into the US Olympic Hall of Fame.

Born in 1971 in Hayward, California, Christie is a fourth-generation Japanese American. Her paternal grandparents and maternal great-grandparents immigrated to the US from Japan. Yamaguchi's grandparents were in the internment camp during World War II, where her mother was born. Kristi Yamaguchi started skating as a child as therapy for her clubfoot.

In juniors, Yamaguchi competed not only in singles, but also in pairs skating with Rudy Galindo. In 1988 she became the world junior champion in both singles and pair skating. Yamaguchi is the first woman to win first place in the US Championships in singles and pairs skating. As a couple, Christy and Rudy were unusual in that they both competed in single skating, as well as jumping and spinning in different directions: Yamaguchi counterclockwise and Galindo clockwise.

Photo: AP/Scanpix

In 1996, Yamaguchi founded the Always Dream Foundation for children. In addition, the ex-skater has written three books, including "Figure Skating for Dummies" and starred in three films as herself.

In 2008, Kristi Yamaguchi won the ABC television competition Dancing with the Stars, becoming the second woman in the tournament's history to win it. And before that, together with the Disson company, she was the organizer of the ice "Christy Yamaguchi Show".

Christie has been married to NHL player Bret Hediken since 2000. They have two daughters, Keara Kiyomi (born 2003) and Emma Yoshiko (born 2005).

Photo: AP/Scanpix

One of the most famous sports dramas played out between two American figure skaters - Tony Harding and Nancy Kerrigan, who competed for a place in the US team before the 94 Olympics in Lillehammer.

The widely publicized attack on Kerrigan took place in training for the US Nationals in Detroit on January 6, 1994. Shane Stant, instigated by Jeff Gillooly ( ex-husband Tony Harding) and his friend Shawn Eckardt, had to break Nancy's right leg so that she could not compete.

Unable to find Kerrigan at a skating rink in Massachusetts, Stant followed her to Detroit, where he stabbed her in the thigh with an expandable baton several inches above the knee. He only bruised Nancy's leg, and did not break it, but this injury forced the athlete to refuse to participate in the national championship.

Holding on to her knee and wailing "Why, why, why," Nancy got into the camera lens. This video remained key news on all TV channels for several days after the attack.

Harding won the U.S. Championships and both of them, along with Kerrigan, made the Olympic team: the American Figure Skating Federation decided to include Nancy in the team instead of runner-up Michelle Kwan.

After Tonya admitted that she knew about the impending attack, the US Figure Skating Association and the US National Olympic Committee initiated proceedings to remove Harding from the team, but she retained her seat by threatening to start a lawsuit.

Kerrigan quickly recovered and began intensive training. The news that Nancy was back on track after the attack and ready to resume her professional career led her to sign a new $9.5 million contract before the Olympics even started.

The attack on Kerrigan and the news of Harding's alleged involvement caused a media storm. Hundreds of members of the press staged a stampede at a practice rink in Norway, and the broadcast of the 1994 Olympics short program became one of the most watched television broadcasts in American history.

In Lillehammer, Harding placed eighth, while Nancy Kerrigan, who had fully recovered from her injury, won the silver medal. At the same time, an incident occurred with Harding herself at these games: the lace of her skate suddenly broke before going on the ice to perform a free program.

Foto: Reuters/Scanpix

Nancy Kerrigan (born 1969) is a two-time Olympic medalist (bronze in 1992 and silver in 1994), a two-time World Championship medalist (1991, 1992) and a US champion in 1993.

After the 1994 Olympics, Kerrigan ended her amateur career, competed in several professional competitions, but soon decided to focus on various ice shows. She has performed in Champions on Ice, Broadway on Ice and the ice version of the musical Footloose.

Nancy had a small role in the film Blades of Glory: Stars on Ice, took part in the television show Skating with Celebrities, hosted Nancy Kerrigan's World of Skating, and was a commentator at the 2010 Olympics.

In 2003, Kerrigan became a representative of Fight for Sight, and in 2004 she was inducted into the US Figure Skating Hall of Fame. Wrote a textbook modern technology figure skating "Artistry on Ice" and created The Nancy Kerrigan Foundation to raise awareness and support for the visually impaired.

In 1995, Nancy Kerrigan married her agent Jerry Lawrence Solomon, who is 16 years her senior. They have three children: Matthew Eric (born 1996), Brian (born 2005) and Nicole Elizabeth (born 2008). Nancy's father died in 2010 after a fight with his son: Nancy's brother was convicted on charges of manslaughter.

Photo: AP/Scanpix

Tonya Maxine Harding (born 1970) won the US Championship in 1991 and placed second in the World Championship. She was also fourth at the 92 Olympics and eighth at the 94 Olympics. Tonya became the second woman in history and the first American to land a triple Axel in competition, but is better known as the champion who injured her competitor's leg.

Tonya married Jeff Gillooly in 1990 when she was 19 years old. Their turbulent marriage ended in 1993. As mentioned above, Harding rose to fame after her ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly, conspired with Shawn Eckardt and Shane Stant to attack Nancy Kerrigan.

After it was acknowledged that Harding, along with her ex-husband Jeff Gillooly, tried to cripple Kerrigan, Tonya was removed from participation in the national championship and banned from amateur figure skating. And Jeff Gillooly was sentenced to two years in prison. The scandal involving the athlete reached its peak when pictures from the couple's wedding night were sold to Penthouse magazine.

Tonya Harding avoided jail time by pleading guilty to conspiring with her attackers to prevent their prosecution. She received three years probation, 500 hours of community service, and a $160,000 fine.

Harding was forced to leave amateur ice, but among the pros she became "persona non grata". She long defended her innocence of the attack and claimed to be disgusted with him. As a sign of this, she got an angel tattoo on her back.

In her autobiography, Tony's Notes (2008), Harding claims she wanted to call the FBI and report everything, but changed her mind when Gillooly allegedly threatened her with death after being raped at gunpoint.

Harding's name continued to make headlines, but now the news of her domestic quarrels was getting into the media, car accidents. In 2002, a boxing match between Tonya Harding and Paula Jones was staged for television broadcast. Brawler Paula Jones accused Bill Clinton of sexual harassment.

In 2002, in the biography of Tony Harding, he was imprisoned for 10 days for driving while intoxicated. In 2003, Tonya tried herself in professional boxing. In six fights, she won three times, but refused further fights due to asthma.

In 2004, she signed a one-game contract with the Indianapolis Ice of the Major Hockey League, and a few years later she decided to try herself in MMA, but also without much success. She married Joseph Jens Price in 2010.

Foto: Vida Press

Oksana Baiul is a Soviet and Ukrainian figure skater, born in 1977 in Dnepropetrovsk. Olympic champion-94, world champion-1993 and two-time champion of Ukraine (1993, 1994). The first and only Olympic champion in figure skating in the history of Ukraine.

Oksana's parents divorced in 1980 when she was 2 years old. After that, the daughter was raised by her mother, who died in 1991, when Oksana was 13 years old. Oksana became an orphan, she was taken in by Galina Zmievskaya, the leading Odessa figure skating coach.

Baiul's sports career is full of curious and dramatic situations. At the Olympics-94, in training before a free program, a figure skater from Germany Shevchenko collided with her, injuring her shin with a skate. Baiul received stitches and injections of painkillers.

The Ukrainian, overcoming pain, performed a free program. After grading for technique, Oksana had a nervous breakdown. With the most intense competition, the outcome of the competition was decided by one vote of the German judge, who placed Baiul second in the short program, and changed his mind in the free program and gave her first place. 16-year-old Baiul became the only Ukrainian Olympic champion in Lillehammer.

Photo: AP/Scanpix

After the Games-94, Baiul moved to live in the United States, while retaining Ukrainian citizenship, she performed as a professional. She had an accident, suffered from alcoholism, went through rehabilitation. Now she continues to speak and is engaged in business, has published two books in English.

In 2001 she left the ice, but in 2005 she returned to professional sports. In 2010 she returned to Ukraine, entered the National Pedagogical University named after Drahomanov in Kyiv.

Oksana was Orthodox until she discovered her Jewish roots through her mother in 2003. "Being Jewish is very cool. It's as natural as a second skin," Baiul once said. Being engaged to a Jew, she said that she was very excited when she discovered that she and her betrothed were of the same faith.

In February 2013, Baiul, 36, sued US broadcaster NBC Universal and its associated production company for $5 million in damages to her reputation.

In the fall of 2013, the ex-figure skater sued the New York state court against the William Morris agency, which previously handled her affairs, demanding more than $400 million in compensation for allegedly caused damage to her. IN statement of claim it is said that the agency used her youth and poor English skills to fraudulently steal millions of dollars from her after winning the 1994 Olympics.

Foto: Vida Press

American Tara Lipinski (born 1982) - 1998 Olympic champion in Nagano, 1997 world champion, 1997 US champion. The youngest individual Olympic champion in history: she won gold at the age of 15. In 2006, Tara was inducted into the US Figure Skating Hall of Fame.

In figure skating, you won’t surprise anyone with the victories of teenagers. However, against the background of her rivals, Lipinski still looked like a child. She lacked artistry, but the most difficult jumps were successful. Already at the age of 12, Tara won the American Olympic Festival, at 13 she made her debut at the World Championships, at the age of 14 she became the world champion. There has never been such a young champion in figure skating, and there never will be, since the International Skating Union has since introduced age restrictions.

Photo: RIA Novosti/Scanpix

A couple of years after Nagano, Tara won the world championship among professionals, but then a hip injury began to make itself felt. At the age of 19, after a fall during the Stars on Ice show in St. Louis, there was another relapse, and Lipinski decided to leave the big sport.

But she did not sit idly by, and chose the acting profession, focusing on American television shows. Interestingly, in twenty of them she played herself.

The aspiring actress successfully worked in the drama series "Touched an Angel", flashed in episodes of the series "Arliss", "Morning Edition", "7th Heaven", participated in the family comedy series "Sabrina the Teenage Witch", had episodic roles in the films "Screech. Well, a very scary movie", "Veronica's Salon", "The Young and the Restless".

Also in the track record of Tara Lipinski are the series "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" and Malcolm in the Middle, Vanilla Sky (2001), Still Standing (2001), Subway Chase (2003).

The film industry of Tara Lipinski remained supporting roles, although there were also major ones. For example, in 2000 in the comedy-drama directed by George Ershbeymer "Ice Angel". And in 2002, Tara Lipinski took part in the dubbing of the animated film Scooby-Doo.

At the same time, Lipinski does not consider himself a public person. As soon as the opportunity arises, she gladly became a snail and "hides" in her house.

Now 32-year-old Tara is involved in charity work and helping children. Last year, she distributed titles at the Miss Universe 2013 beauty pageant. And in October 2013, she became an analytical columnist for the American television company NBC and will now visit the Olympics in Sochi.

Foto: AFP/Scanpix

American Sarah Hughes (born 1985) is the 2002 Olympic champion and bronze medalist at the 2001 World Figure Skating Championships. In 2005, she was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

Sarah surprised the world when she won gold at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. Then she was only 16 years old. In addition, the athlete had never won the US or world championships before. Being in fourth place after the short program, Sarah showed an impeccable long performance. With this, she outperformed such star figure skaters as world champion Michelle Kwan, Russian Irina Slutskaya, and young American Sasha Cohen.

Foto: Vida Press

Photo: RIA Novosti/Scanpix

Japanese Shizuka Arakawa (born 1981) is the 2006 Olympic champion in Turin and the 2004 world champion. Shizuka became the first Japanese figure skater to win an Olympic event and the second Japanese figure skater to win gold in any sport at the Winter Olympics. Her medal was the only one in the treasury of the Japanese team at the 2006 Olympics.

In 2004, a Japanese figure skater who worked with Russian coach Tatyana Tarasova won the World Championship. And two years later, in Turin, Arakawa skated the free program unmistakably, managing to get ahead of the American Sasha Cohen and the Russian Irina Slutskaya.

Foto: AFP/Scanpix

After winning the Olympic Games in 2006, Shizuka Arakawa ended her amateur career. Later, the ex-figure skater performed in ice shows and demonstrations, taught choreography, and also worked as a sports commentator on Japanese television.

And in 2013, at the bridal fashion show in Tokyo, 32-year-old Arakawa appeared as a model for demonstrating a pendant dress from Japanese designer Ginza Tanaka. The cost of the dress, adorned with 502 diamonds and a thousand pearls, is $ 8.3 million: this is the most expensive wedding dress in the world.

Photo: RIA Novosti/Scanpix

In November 2006, she announced the end of her sports career. In 2000, she received a diploma from the Academy of Physical Culture in Moscow, but she did not try herself as a coach. In 2006, Slutskaya graduated from the leading television courses.

In 2006, Slutskaya was a TV presenter of the Stars on Ice and Ice Age projects. In 2008, she took part in the same project as a participant, pairing with ballet choreographer Gedeminas Taranda. In 2009, she returned to the role of the host of the show, along with Anastasia Zavorotnyuk.

She starred in one of the roles in the series about figure skating "Hot Ice", acted as the main figure skater in the Russian version of the show "Winx on Ice". In 2011, Slutskaya was awarded the status of the Ambassador of the XXII Winter Olympic Games in Sochi. Since October 2011, he has been presenting sports news on Channel One.

In 2012 she was the host of the show "Ice Age. Professional Cup", and in 2014 she acts as a participant in it. According to her, "as a presenter, I already feel like a professional to some extent, but as a participant it is extremely interesting to discover some new possibilities in myself, to create new images."

In 1999, Irina married Sergei Mikheev. In 2007, she gave birth to a son, Artem, and in 2010, a daughter, Varvara.

Photo: AP/Scanpix

American figure skater Michelle Kwan, like Russian Slutskaya, failed to become an Olympic champion, but she has been a trendsetter in figure skating for many years.

Michelle Wingshan Kwan (born 1980) - two-time Olympic medalist (silver in Nagano 1998 and bronze in Salt Lake City 2002), five-time world champion (1996, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003) (second only to Sony Henie record) and nine-time US champion (1996, 1998-2005) (absolute record, the same as that of Maribel Vinson-Owen). Michelle Kwan's eight national championship titles and 12 consecutive national championship medals are US records.

Born in California, Michelle is a descendant of Chinese immigrants from Hong Kong. As a child, she spoke at home in a mixture of Cantonese and English and also speaks some spoken Mandarin.

For a decade, Michelle Kwan has performed at the highest level and is the most decorated figure skater in American history. Known for her resilience and expressive artistry on the ice, she is considered by many to be one of the greatest figure skaters of all time.

For more than a decade, Michelle Kwan maintained her position as not only the most popular figure skater in America, but also the most popular American female athlete.

Kwan is the recipient of the prestigious James E. Sullivan Award, which is given to the best amateur athlete in the United States. She was the first figure skater to receive this award since Dick Button in 1949.

Foto: Reuters/Scanpix

By nature, she is an athlete, and the most successful figure skater of all time. Known as "fire on ice", Katarina Witt represented the former East Germany in figure skating. Having won the title of European champion for the first time in 1983, Katarina became her six times in a row. She has four world champion gold medals and two Olympic gold medals in her arsenal. Fans are always interested in what their favorite is doing now. We will talk about this in the article.

How did it all start?

The future figure skater Katarina Witt was born in an ordinary average family of the times of socialism, on December 3, 1965 in the city of Karl Marx. Now it is the city of Khimnitz, its historical name was returned to it. Katya's father, Manfred, ran an agricultural plant, and her mother was a physiotherapist. Katharina has an older brother, Axel.

Figure skating, which Katarina was fascinated with as a baby, began for her at the age of 6. The talented girl was just lucky, she got into the group of the famous coach Ute Muller, who worked in the best dictatorial traditions of the coaching school of the GDR. This is a man of iron will and harsh requirements, whose skaters cried in the locker room. But this is the kind of sport where you either give your best and win, or leave. Frau Müller turned Katharina Witt into a winning figure skater who, throughout her career in figure skating, deservedly took only the highest awards.

Preparing for the 1988 Olympics, Katarina realized that her ice career was coming to an end, that this would probably be the last Olympics. She was only 22, but she was already "old" enough to compete as a figure skater. She understood that there was no future in professional sports in the GDR. The country did not have the ice shows that she dreamed of. It was then that she entered into a contract with sports officials: if she wins a second Olympic gold, they give her the opportunity to participate in several concert programs abroad.

Retirement and return...

Having ended her career in amateur figure skating in 1988, Katarina does not leave figure skating. Now it is professional: ice shows, movies, major US tours. She tries herself as a TV presenter. Since 1991 Katarina has worked for both German and American television as a figure skating specialist.

But Katarina still felt too young to simply lead and observe. The ice continued to beckon her, and she believed that she could still prove herself. And she succeeded, it would seem, impossible, namely the return from professional skating to the amateur figure skater camp. At the German Championships in 1992 she came in second, in 1994 she placed eighth at the European Championships and seventh at the Lillehammer Olympics. She was not on the winner's podium, but she did it once again in the pros. As a professional, she won the world title in 1992 in Paris.

In addition to sports achievements

In addition to sporting achievements, Katharina Witt's biography states that in 1995 she founded her own production company with WITT Sports & Entertainment GmbH for skating shows such as "Stars on Ice", "Champions on Ice" and Winter Magic. Katarina founded the Snezhinka ice exhibition, created the sports and entertainment company S Witt Sports and Entertainment, and presented her own jewelry collection.

In 1998, she posed for Playboy. With her as Covergirl, the entire issue of the magazine was sold to the last copy all over the world. For the magazine, this was the second record issue after a photo shoot with Marilyn Monroe. Katarina has been actively involved since 2005 in the Katarina Witt Foundation, which she founded, which supports children and adolescents with physical disabilities.

farewell tour

In March 2008, she finally ended her career. All tickets in nine cities were sold for the performances of the ageless Ice Princess on her farewell tour of Germany. This was her last appearance as an "active" figure skater on the ice. Once again at 43, she confidently glided across the glistening surface of the ice, in the spotlight, enjoying the applause. Now that moment is over. Her performances on the tour were accompanied by a display on the video screens of ice rinks important points her world career and once again she has impressively demonstrated her skills and charisma. This time, as Katarina Witt herself said, she "wants to hang up her skates" at last, after nine shows in eight cities.

“I have to tell you honestly that I prepared such a tour and thought about everything, and then completely forgot what I should say at the end. Maybe just thank you,” said Kati Witt, breathless and beaming.

What is Katarina Witt doing now?

The most successful German figure skater has ended her career. In her interview for one of the German magazines, she said: "For the first time in my career, I don't have a plan, I just want to have free time". She decided to stop the daily hard work, the eternal icy cold and sports nutrition. This freedom will mean a major change for the two-time Olympic champion. In addition to her work in funds, production work, filming in television shows and films, Katarina Witt writes books. light: "So much life", "Easy in shape", "My years between duty and freestyle".

As an ARD Olympic expert, Katharina Witt has worked alongside broadcasters from the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Games in South Korea. But she keeps her personal life largely out of the public eye.

There is a version that the personal life of the East German figure skater Katharina Witt, "the most beautiful face of socialism," as she was called, was seriously complicated by the Stasi, the secret service of the GDR, who followed the athlete from the very beginning of her career.

Tracked every step As the newspaper "Trud" wrote, according to the memoirs of Katarina Witt, she was followed literally by the minute, day and night. Moreover, the spies from the Stasi, in order to justify their activities, often composed tales about her sexual contacts with athletes and even athletes. Spies "convicted" the figure skater in sexual intercourse with a coach, attributed a relationship with tennis player Boris Becker ... According to Izvestia, Katarina Witt got acquainted with the dossier that East German intelligence kept on her from the age of 7 to 17 years of age of the figure skater at 90 years, and was shocked by the details of her biography recorded by the Stasi. The letters of the athlete were clarified, and love dates were recorded on video. They also talk about the many photographs from this dossier, where the figure skater is depicted naked.

Why didn't she have long-term relationships with men

In her book “Meine Jahre Zwischen Pflicht und Kür” (“My years between compulsory and free program”), Katharina Witt, about whom journalists say that she has never been deprived of male attention, describes one of her love stories - an affair with actor Richard Dean Anderson, known to viewers from the films Secret Agent MacGyver and Stargate SG-1. Both had their own lives, they met for years in different cities and when they parted, each returned to his own environment. Once Katarina Witt realized that their relationship had no future in this situation and decided to leave. Anderson did not mind and did not attempt to reunite with the skater.

"You can't have everything you want"

This is how Katarina Witt explained the absence of a family and children in an interview a few years ago. Now the 53-year-old repeated champion of the world, Europe and the GDR has already left figure skating for 10 years. Acts in films, broadcasts on TV. In an interview, Katarina Witt says that in her personal life she had both happy love and the attention of men. But she never put and does not put now a relationship with a man above a career, no matter what her professional activity is. Katharina Witt, by her own admission, is a workaholic, working not for the sake of money, but out of love for the occupation itself. In addition, when the athlete was asked about her own children, she replied that she had not yet found a candidate for the role of the father. And she repeated: the family is a completely new rhythm of life and other priorities. It seems that Katarina Witt is not going to part with her usual way of life.