Katarina Witt facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Katarina Witt
Witt in 2010
Personal information
Country represented	East Germany (1977–1988)  Germany (1994)
Born	(1965-12-03) 3 December 1965 (age 59) Falkensee, East Germany
Height	1.65 m
Former coach	Jutta Müller
Skating club	SC Karl-Marx-Stadt
Retired	1988 and 1994 (amateur) 2008 (professional)
Medal record Figure skating: Ladies' singles Representing  East Germany Olympic Games Gold 1984 Sarajevo Ladies' singles Gold 1988 Calgary Ladies' singles World Championships Gold 1984 Ottawa Ladies' singles Gold 1985 Tokyo Ladies' singles Gold 1987 Cincinnati Ladies' singles Gold 1988 Budapest Ladies' singles Silver 1982 Copenhagen Ladies' singles Silver 1986 Geneva Ladies' singles European Championships Gold 1983 Dortmund Ladies' singles Gold 1984 Budapest Ladies' singles Gold 1985 Gothenburg Ladies' singles Gold 1986 Copenhagen Ladies' singles Gold 1987 Sarajevo Ladies' singles Gold 1988 Prague Ladies' singles Silver 1982 Lyon Ladies' singles

Katarina Witt (born 3 December 1965) is a German former figure skater. She is known as one of the best ladies' singles figure skaters ever. She won two Olympic gold medals. People remember her for her strong athletic skills and charming style on the ice.

Witt won her first Olympic gold medal for East Germany at the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics. She won her second gold at the 1988 Calgary Olympics. She is one of only two female skaters to win two Olympic titles in a row. The other skater was Sonja Henie from Norway.

Katarina Witt also won the World Championships four times (1984, 1985, 1987, 1988). She won six European Championships in a row from 1983 to 1988. This was a record for female skaters, shared with Sonja Henie. Between 1984 and 1988, Witt won ten gold medals in major international events. This made her one of the most successful figure skaters in history.

After winning her second Olympic title in 1988, Witt stopped competing. She returned for the 1994 Winter Olympics. There, she skated for a united Germany. Her performance was themed around Robin Hood. After this, Witt retired again. She has since worked in movies and television.

Early Life

Katarina Witt was born in Staaken, which was then part of Falkensee in East Germany. This area is now part of Berlin. Her mother was a physiotherapist in a hospital. Her father worked as a farmer.

Witt went to school in Karl-Marx-Stadt. This city is now called Chemnitz again. She attended a special school there for talented young athletes. It was called the Kinder- und Jugendsportschule.

Competitive Skating Career

Witt skated for the SC Karl-Marx-Stadt club in East Germany. Her coach, Jutta Müller, started training her in 1977. Witt trained six days a week. Sometimes she practiced for seven hours a day. Three of those hours were spent on compulsory figures. These were specific patterns skaters had to trace on the ice.

Witt in 1982

Witt first competed internationally at the 1979 European Championships. She finished 14th at that event. In 1982, she won silver medals at both the European and World Championships. She won her first European title in 1983.

In 1984, Witt was named "GDR Female Athlete of the Year." This was chosen by readers of an East German newspaper. She won the 1984 Olympic title in Sarajevo. Rosalynn Sumners from the United States came in second. Witt won the gold medal when she was 18 years old. She became one of the youngest Olympic figure skating champions. After the Olympics, Witt won her first World title. She won all three parts of the competition.

Witt at the 1986 World Championships

Witt won her World title again in 1985. She skated very well in all parts of the competition. Her winning streak was broken in 1986. She placed second to American skater Debi Thomas at the World Championships. Witt was determined to win back her title. She decided to continue skating until the 1988 Calgary Olympics.

In 1987, Witt won her third World title. She had to skate under a lot of pressure. Other skaters like Caryn Kadavy and Debi Thomas had performed very well. Witt landed five triple jumps in her program. She earned the best scores for both technical skill and artistic impression. She won her World title back.

Witt in January 1988

In 1988, Witt won her sixth European Championship in a row. This matched Sonja Henie's record. Later, Irina Slutskaya won more European titles overall. However, Witt still holds the record for the most consecutive European titles, shared with Henie.

Witt at the 1988 Calgary Olympics, successfully defending her Olympic title

Witt and Thomas were the top skaters at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. Their competition was called the "Battle of the Carmens." Both skaters used music from the opera Carmen for their long programs. Witt won her second Olympic gold medal. She became only the second woman to win two Olympic figure skating titles in a row. To celebrate her win, North Korea even made special stamps with her picture. Time magazine called her "the most beautiful face of socialism."

Witt won her fourth and final World title in 1988. This ended her amateur skating career. She then became a professional skater.

Witt on an Azerbaijani postage stamp

In 1988, Witt started a professional career. This was unusual for East German athletes at the time. She toured the United States for three years with Brian Boitano. He was also an Olympic champion. Their show, "Witt and Boitano Skating," was very popular. She also acted in the film Carmen on Ice (1989). This movie was based on her Olympic program. In 1990, she won an Emmy Award for her role in the film.

In 1994, Witt returned to competitive skating. Her coach, Jutta Müller, trained her again. She finished second at the German Championships. She then competed for a united Germany at the 1994 European Championships. She finished eighth there. Witt then went to the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. She finished seventh. Her free program was set to the song "Where Have All the Flowers Gone." It included a message of peace for the people of Sarajevo. Sarajevo was where she won her first Olympic gold. She received the Golden Camera award for her Olympic comeback.

In 1994, Witt wrote her autobiography. It was called Meine Jahre zwischen Pflicht und Kür. In 1995, Witt was added to the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame. She had her final show skating tour in 2008.

Post-Skating Career

Katarina Witt (right) with Special Olympics athlete Teresa Breuer, Sportsman of the Year, Austria 2013

In 1996, Witt received the Golden Plate Award. This was from the American Academy of Achievement.

Witt had small roles in the movie Jerry Maguire and on the TV show Everybody Loves Raymond in 1996. She also starred in a German film called Die Eisprinzessin (The Ice Princess). She sang the theme song for this movie. She appeared as herself in two episodes of the TV series Arli$$.

In 1998, Witt appeared in the film Ronin. She had a small supporting role. She also played a villain in an episode of the TV series, V.I.P. In November 2005, Witt wrote a novel called Only with Passion. It gave advice to a young skater. From October 2006, she had her own TV show in Germany called Stars auf Eis ("Stars on Ice"). In 2012, Witt became a judge on the UK TV show Dancing on Ice.

On 7 July 2007, Witt took part in the German part of the Live Earth concert. She also led Munich's attempt to host the 2018 Winter Olympics. However, their bid was not successful.

East German Files

After East Germany was no longer a country, secret police files were found. These files showed that the secret police, called the Stasi, watched Katarina Witt. They wanted to make sure she would not leave the country. Witt found 3,500 pages of files about her life. These files started from when she was seven years old.

Programs

Results

Images for kids

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See also

In Spanish: Katarina Witt para niños

• Sport in Berlin