Figure skating Katarina Witt. Katharina Witt: “You can’t honestly roar to two different anthems”
“Every day I trotted to the skating rink in the company of my girlfriends from kindergarten and knew: it’s mine to skate and do jumps when others are looking at you. This is exactly what I want. And I know for sure that I can do it,” wrote Katarina Witt (Katarina Witt) in her autobiography “My years between the compulsory and free program”, published in 1994.
Early success
Katharina Witt was born on December 3, 1965 near Berlin. First steps in figure skating she did it at the age of five at the sports school in Karl-Marx-Stadt (present-day Chemnitz). There she was noticed by the famous trainer Jutta Müller. She quickly recognized the future champion in the little girl.
In his element
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, Katharina Witt had no equal in women's figure skating. From 1983 to 1988, she was a European champion, climbed to the top step of the podium at the world championships four times, and in 1988 in Calgary she became an Olympic champion for the second time.
Socialism or capitalism?
Along with fame, the athlete’s life included all the pompous attributes of “official” sport, which in the GDR was always inseparable from politics. Katharina Witt often had to be photographed with members of the Politburo, take part 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 grandfather Marx” had turned into an all-German sports idol, who was equally worshiped in both the GDR and the Federal Republic of Germany. It destroyed the Berlin Wall that existed in the minds of West and East Germans.
Katharina Witt enjoyed the freedom of movement that came with her job. In November 1988, Witt decided to give up her sports career and broke one of the main taboos of “socialist sports” 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 Berlin Wall will become inseparable. In the GDR, her participation in the American show became a sensation. Katarina's success as a professional figure skater exceeded all expectations.
After the Wall
Thanks to the changed rules, in 1994 she returned to the sport and took part in the Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer. And although there she failed to win the championship title for the third time (she took seventh place), Katarina’s fans were happy with her performance.
In 1998, Witt posed nude for Playboy. This issue became one of the most successful in the history of the men's magazine. Only twice did its circulation sell out completely, down to a single copy: when there was a portrait of Marilyn Monroe on the cover and when photographs of Katharina Witt were published in the magazine.
From “the most beautiful face of socialism” to “the goat of the SED”
For many years, the GDR basked in the glory and sporting success of the figure skater. And not only that: the ice princess also replenished the state treasury, donating 80 percent of her proceeds. At the same time, the favorite of functionaries enjoyed some privileges: a car and Dishwasher became the reason for numerous reproaches brought against the skater by her compatriots after the peaceful revolution in the GDR. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Katharina Witt became the target of harsh criticism. If earlier the media called her nothing less than “the most beautiful face of socialism,” now the tabloid press nicknamed the figure skater “the goat of the SED.”
Context
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 order to stop a number of publishing houses from spreading such rumors. In 2001, she went to court in Berlin in an attempt to prevent the publication of a secret dossier kept on her by the East German secret police. Subsequently, the skater was forced to agree to this, but stated that such a publication was an invasion of her privacy.
Secret Stasi files filed against Katharina Witt indicate that she has been under continuous surveillance since 1973. Part of the dossier is now available to the public. The contents of these documents came as a shock to the athlete herself. “I would prefer never to know about some things. I was not an informer, just as I was not a participant in 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 figure skater created the Katarina Witt Stiftung charity foundation. Its tasks include helping children living in regions affected by natural disasters, supporting disabled children and much more.
Katharina Witt actively lobbied for Munich to be the host city for the 2018 Winter Olympics, officially representing the city at various events. But, as is now known, this enterprise was not successful. The Munich residents themselves opposed holding the Olympics in their city, and the competitions will eventually be held in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
There have always been many rumors about Katharina Witt's personal life. 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 German musicians Ingo Politz and Rolf Brendel, as well as American actors Richard Dean Anderson and Danny Huston.
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 ice princess. In all of history there has not been a single figure skater who could compare with her.
German figure skater Katharina 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 a therapeutic gymnastics instructor. In addition to her, the eldest son Axel grew up in the family. Kindergarten, which little Katya visited, was located not far from the skating rink, and the girl watched the athletes’ training for a long time from the windows of her room. At home, she indulged in dreams in which she performed various tricks while skating. The parents did not think about sending their daughter to sport Club, however, mother could not resist the persuasion of her favorite. And one day, taking five-year-old Katya by the hand, she led her to the figure skating section. It turned out that the reception 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 glide smoothly on the ice, she decided to make an exception for her. So the only daughter of the Witt family, Katharina, became the 101st student in the first class of the East Berlin figure skating school. By the end of the school 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, very stressful everyday life began for the girl. After school, she went to the skating rink, and spent her evenings doing homework. At the same time, she managed to get good grades. At the age of nine, she attracted the attention of one of the most famous in the GDR, Jutta Müller. She saw great sports potential in the pretty girl and decided to make her a champion. It was under her leadership that young Katharina Witt was able to win all her gold medals.
A very warm relationship developed between the coach and the girl. She was a mother, an older friend, and a mentor for her. As Katya later admits, she was always a little afraid of the coach. However, this did not stop Katarina from playing pranks: disrupting her workouts, using all sorts of tricks so that the scales would not show her true weight, eating several cakes at once, etc. The girl had a sweet tooth, so she almost always had the problem of being overweight. And if it weren’t for her hard work and perseverance, the world would not have known about figure skater Witt. For many years, Katarina stubbornly walked towards the pinnacle 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 Kati became a gold medalist at 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 (consecutive) champion of the GDR. After winning the 1988 Olympics, she left the big sport.
Return to the Ice
But soon the world started talking about the German figure skater Witt again. Katarina took part in the film “Carmen on Ice” in 1994, for which she received an Emmy award. And 4 years later, she received the Golden Camera prize with a show program during demonstration performances at the Winter Olympics and in honor of her return to the ice. And 4 years later she starred in the feature film “Ronnie”. That 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 about her excess weight.
“I am sure that many years will pass before any of the figure skaters will be able to repeat my Olympic success,” said Katarina Witt in Calgary, on the day of her second Olympic victory. “After all, I managed to achieve such a result only 52 years after the famous Sonia Henie."
I think that the athlete from the GDR was then guided not only by a sober assessment of the difficulty of what she had accomplished, but also by pride, the legitimate pride of a person who had reached the highest peaks in sports.
There were not many who questioned Witt's success, and yet her second Olympic gold medal was not easy for her. The dispute with Debi Thomas from the USA, lost at the World Championships in Geneva-86, then won in 1987 in Cincinnati, seemed to escalate to the limit by the Winter Olympics in Calgary, Canada. And on the decisive day, when the skaters were performing a free program, Katarina performed a double loop instead of a triple loop. She made the task a little easier in this most difficult jump for her, and the thought immediately flashed: “That’s it. If Thomas does everything cleanly, the gold is in her pocket.”
But it’s not without reason that they say that in addition to all the advantages, an athlete also needs a little luck. Fortune saved her smile for Katarina. The main duel of the Olympic figure skating tournament was to take place between Witt and Thomas, two Carmen (their compositions were on the same theme and similar in music: Wiese - Shchedrin - for the GDR champion, Wiese - for the US champion). But Thomas’s nerves could not stand it - she made a number of mistakes and, having taken only fourth place on the decisive day, was ultimately content with the bronze award.
In addition, one of the hostesses of the Olympics, Canadian figure skater Elizabeth Manley, intervened in the dispute, winning in free skating and receiving silver as a reward.
And the 22-year-old two-time Olympic champion completed the Olympic competition course extremely smoothly. She was third in the “school”, first in the short program and second in the free program, once again proving that in the all-around the winner is the one who is strong enough in all its components.
“I still turned out to be stronger,” Katarina said, not without defiance. “To accurately perform all the jumps, you need to have extraordinary self-control. I was unable to avoid a mistake, and Debi turned out to be completely out of shape. No, she is an ordinary person, not a miracle at all.”
Is Katarina herself a miracle?
Tens of thousands of her fans will answer this question with an unequivocal “yes.”
She arrived in Calgary as a recognized favorite - the owner of six European crowns and three world ones. The Olympic figure skating tournament was called the “Katharina Witt Olympics.” Contrary to what has happened during recent years According to the opinion that the women's part of the program is the most boring, the seats in the Olympic Saddledome were not empty during the women's competitions. Long before the triumphant finale, Katarina was perhaps the most popular person in Calgary. Press conferences and entire newspaper pages were dedicated to her; she gave interviews and many autographs; Perfume and cosmetics companies sought to get her, offering tempting contracts in advance; ubiquitous newspapermen seriously claimed that Calgary’s favorite two-time Olympic champion, Italian alpine skier Alberto Tomba, was crazy about the beautiful Katya and was ready to offer her his hand and heart.
Naturally, not everyone liked this, especially representatives of the American press, who were interested in the popularity of their contender for the championship title and in her victory. They tried to unsettle Witt with small jabs in the absence of serious arguments. Here is one of the passages dedicated to Witt, an Associated Press correspondent: “Sequins on the suit and hairpins, power and composure, talent and complete mobility, triple jumps and a magnificent step sequence. Lips and hips, legs and eyes... The world champion brilliantly knows how to show all her advantages over her rivals. And here, in Calgary, she will, of course, try to prove that in all respects she is the best in the world.
But let's get back to her appearance. Her clothes simply have a killer effect on the public, and the athlete herself does whatever she wants, not only with the public, but also with the judges. This, naturally, causes her to be disliked by her rivals and their coaches.
“We came here to compete in figure skating, and not to show the public seductive body parts,” one of these coaches told reporters with disapproval, hinting at Witt’s costume for a short program in which she portrays a show girl.
“When I put on a suit that fully matches my composition, I feel much better,” Witt retorted. “And then, why can’t I emphasize what is actually attractive?”
And she does it, and it works for her.”
You can, of course, try to explain the success of an outstanding athlete in this way. And, probably, to some extent, a popular name, reputation, and demeanor “work” for the athlete. But this, of course, is not what determines success.
No, she's not a miracle. She is a person who has set a goal for herself and dedicated her life to achieving it, who has concentrated all her strength and abilities, a person who does not allow herself any indulgences.
Here she is at the start. Not a shadow of visible excitement, complete composure, concentration, dispassion... And only when the job is done, the program is “worked out”, she allows herself a surge of emotions...
Here she is walking down the backstage aisle. A strict suit, a sleek hairstyle (though not without the most fashionable details), smart, elegant, shoulders turned, back straight - full consciousness of one’s own attractiveness and dignity...
Here she is giving an interview. Seriously, thoughtfully answers questions, only occasionally allowing himself a joke or a smile, but how witty the remark is, how radiant the smile...
You can talk about technique and skill, about the artistry and charm of different figure skaters. But when it comes to the struggle for primacy between two approximately equal people, the ability to control oneself still comes to the fore. The Olympic figure skating tournament in Calgary convincingly confirmed this.
After all, just half an hour before Thomas’s start, the Olympic champion gave her every opportunity to get the coveted “gold”, having lost the free program competition. And yet, the American only had to bitterly regret that she failed to take advantage of the chance given to her by her rival. “It wasn’t my day,” Debi tried to justify herself. “After the first not entirely successful cascade, I felt that my legs had betrayed me, they had become strangers. I couldn't make them obey..."
Couldn't force her to obey. Witt would not allow her legs to behave in such a wayward manner.
Few people expected to see a new “battle” between Witt and Thomas after the Olympics - at the world championship in Budapest: the athletes gave too much effort in Calgary, and all the i’s had already been dotted. Thomas, with characteristic candor, said that four minutes of her final at the Olympics seemed like a nightmare. “I'm glad it's finally over. “I can’t think about figure skating anymore, I’m going back to school and I want to live in peace.”
But she still wouldn’t be an athlete if she hadn’t tried one last time to challenge her opponent.
The capital of Hungary in March 1988 saw a new dispute between the two Carmens. The Olympic plot repeated itself. The podium at the Budapest Sports Palace was an exact copy of the Olympic one.
At the figure skaters’ training before the last start in Budapest, they played the music “Carmen” for Thomas. Everyone left the road, except for the second Carmen. Debi started skating, Katya was skating quietly closer to the side. At first I skated, then I started seriously. Debi had enough endurance for two minutes. She left the ice. Katya finished the program. Like this!
Who is Katharina Witt?
Katarina was born on December 3, 1965. Her hometown is Karl-Marx-Stadt, famous for its figure skating school, headed by the famous Jutta Müller, who trained Gabi Seifert, Jan Hoffmann, Anette Petch - athletes who shone on the international stage in different years.
At the age of five, while walking with her parents, she passed by the skating rink and stopped to watch the children skate. She liked the nimble, dexterous children so much that she irresistibly wanted to try it herself. She persuaded her parents to let her go on the ice. Having received consent and skates to boot, she came to the skating rink, hobbled out to the middle “and felt that this was mine” - this is how she told about her beginning. Nevertheless, a lot of time passed before it became clear that a new talented girl had appeared among the young figure skaters of the GDR. And, of course, Frau Jutta became her mentor, and the winner of the 1980 Olympics, Anette Petch, trained nearby on the same site.
The first great success came to 15-year-old Katya in 1981, when she first became the champion of her country. Since then, no one has been able to challenge her for this title. In 1983 - the first success at the European Championship, and again for many years, and in 1984 - victory at the world figure skating championship.
One of the brightest moments in the life of an athlete was the gold medal in the Olympic Sarajevo-84, another was revenge in Cincinnati-87 for the defeat at the 1986 World Championships in Geneva, where Thomas was successful.
However, the Geneva failure was not in vain. She helped Katarina learn a useful lesson for the future.
“Every athlete, in my opinion, should sometimes receive such lessons,” she said. “If it weren’t for Geneva, I might never have been able to get rid of some of the learned stereotypes.” I would not doubt the correctness of the chosen style and would not be able to reach a new level of creativity.
Indeed, in the 1987 season, figure skating fans saw a completely different, updated Witt. Accustomed to the rational manner of the figure skater, highly technical, but not particularly expressive and, it seemed, not possessing bright artistry, spectators and specialists suddenly discovered in “Iron Katarina” “Katarina the Beautiful,” a feminine, charming modern girl who possesses not only the entire arsenal of technical and dance techniques, but also able to ignite the audience with a surge of emotions, genuine fun, freedom and relaxedness.
Does the two-time Olympic champion have secrets?
“No,” she claims. - There are no secrets. There is only a way to live and train. Of course, you also need a little luck. But success always depends on how you work, how much and how well you train, and not at all on whether you are lucky or, say, whether you have a famous coach. However, I was really lucky with my coach. She's like a mother to me. I always turn to her when any problems arise, and there has never been a time when she did not give me good advice. We have a very warm relationship. I love her, admire her and will always admire her...
She inherited grace and a love of dancing from her mother, musicality and a love of singing from her father, who has a good voice. “But without a clear goal and perseverance, these qualities were unlikely to be worth anything,” says Katarina. “I always knew what I wanted and achieved it.”
Of course, like every person, sometimes she wanted more to have fun, go out of town or do something else more enjoyable than training. There were times when the desire to throw away your boots and skates became almost irresistible, especially in the summer, when the upcoming season seems so far away...
On March 26, 1988, she took to the ice for the last time to leave it forever. On this day, a huge crowd of fans, eager for an autograph, was waiting for her at the exit from the Sports Palace in Budapest. She signed cards for several dozen lucky people and left, accompanied by “Mama Jutta,” to the hotel.
What will Katarina do now?
First of all, he will continue his studies at the Berlin School of Dramatic Art.
- I don’t know yet whether I will become an actress, singer, television announcer or something else. I want to try my luck at both, and then choose what will give me the same pleasure as figure skating. I can’t imagine how you can do without spectators. I always received a charge of energy from them, I felt my unity with them. I admit that I don’t want to lose fame. I don’t want someone to meet me one day and say, “Aren’t you the same figure skater who was once famous?”
I am and I will be. I hope I’ll even be more famous than I am now.
Let's remember Katharina Witt- figure skater from East Germany.
Katarina Witt - second and only two-time Olympic champion in women's singles*(won the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games).
Represented the German Democratic Republic - GDR. City Karl-Marx-Stadt, which doesn't exist now.
She was called “the most beautiful face of socialism” and, of course, hated.
So, the year is 1984. Olympic Games in Sarajevo where there is no war yet. Katharina Witt:
A figure skater from socialist Germany performed to the accompaniment of Nazi-German music for a demonstration performance. No, not like that...Under .
Short program-1984. Katarina Witt and the Hungarian csardas.
An impartial American judge gave Katarina 5.5 for technique and 5.6 for artistry. The grades that figure skaters usually receive at the Olympics are below average. Of course, no one thought that the American was trying to play along with the American figure skater Rosalyn Sumners. Well, maybe he just doesn't like Hungarian music. Despite this, Katharina Witt still received a gold medal.
Free program in Sarajevo 1984. This time the American judge gave in and gave it a 5.8 for artistry. And the lowest score was given by a judge from fraternal socialist Yugoslavia. And still, Katarina Witt is an Olympic champion.
I don’t want to talk about bad things, but I’ll say it anyway.
Since Katharina Witt was the “face of socialism,” the so-called “Soviet intelligentsia” hated her. The fact is that the “intelligentsia” did not understand much about figure skating, but they knew for sure that ideal skaters were Belousova and Protopopov. These are the Olympic champions in pair skating in 1964 and 1968. (unlike women’s singles, where only two women managed to win Olympic gold more than once, one of whom was Katarina Witt, in pair skating, Soviet pairs consistently won over and over again). Then this couple decided to betray the Soviet Motherland and fled to the West. In the West, they did not achieve success in figure skating, and therefore became an ideal for the “intelligentsia”.
The “Soviet intelligentsia” knew for sure that a real figure skater should flee to the West. Well, for a German figure skater to escape to West Germany is simply a sacred thing. Katharina Witt did not want to flee to West Germany, because the “intellectuals” hated her fiercely.
When the “liberal intelligentsia” has nothing to complain about in essence, it practices inventing all sorts of nasty things, especially in relation to women.
In those distant times, i.e. in the 1980s, “intellectuals” liked to emphasize that Katarina had ugly legs. Well, I agree that her legs are not perfect, the muscles are visible. Well, she's an athlete, not a fashion model. Not everyone has an ideal figure like Valeria Novodvorskaya.
Since Katharina Witt never got married and has no children, “liberal journalism” throughout the 90s practiced making up all sorts of insinuations, even to the point that the bloody German Gebnya gave her some kind of drugs, for which she not like a woman. (Although in the case of figure skating, there is no point in using such drugs at all. After all, it is not strength that is important, but coordination of movements).
In fact, Katarina had quite normal relationships with men (she is definitely not a lesbian). And the reluctance to reproduce, unfortunately, is a typical feature of the Germans. And the point is not that “there are a lot of fagots among the Germans” (as the “spiritually strong” like to say). Germans and German women are selfish and value their individual comfort most of all. In addition, Germans are workaholics (because when Katharina says that she could not trade her job for her family, I believe her. This is typical for a German woman).
Let me note that the inhabitants of “free” West Germany stopped reproducing for a very long time. The backward East Germans from the GDR still somehow had children, but after reunification they also stopped. It's sad, but there's nothing to be done.
It is curious that Chancellor Merkel was married twice. However, for some reason she has no children. Unlike Katharina Witt, who simply did not get married. But for some reason no one makes up insinuations about Frau Merkel. Probably because the “liberal intelligentsia” likes Frau Merkel.
There was also a favorite trick of the “liberals” - to say that Katharina Witt was a mistress Eric Honecker. Well, it is clear that the German figure skater could not have won the competition if she had not been personally “blessed” by the 76-year-old Secretary General. And in general, according to the “liberals”, the GDR did not strive to demonstrate sporting successes to the whole world, and did not create for this purpose ideal conditions for athletes. No, there the entire management first fucked the skaters, and only then gave them a victory pill from the secret safes of Gebni.
The fact is that a “liberal” is a creature for whom everything is below the belt. He has no brain, no heart, no soul. He has in his head what ordinary people have below the belt. And he tries to attribute this understanding of life to normal people.
Sorry for ruining the mood. Yes, the world is not ideal.
Calgary 1988. Carmen and second Olympic gold:
*Someone may ask: “How can this be second And the only one? Is Comrade Machine Gun starting to talk?" Yes, it’s simple :) The first was Sonya Henie. But in 1936 she won the Olympic Games in Nazi Berlin and became a three-time champion.
KATHARINA WITT, the “princess on ice” as she was often called in the press, will celebrate her fortieth birthday this year. A two-time Olympic champion, four-time world champion, winner of six gold medals in European championships, Katarina now creates her own “ice shows,” comments on figure skating competitions, and does business. And, according to a recent survey of readers of the German newspaper Bild, he ranks 16th in the list of the most beautiful people in Germany.
WE MEETED at her favorite cafe "Oranium" in the center of East Berlin. Every now and then they approached Katarina for autographs...
During my last trip to Moscow, when I was going through passport control at the airport, a border guard asked: “Aren’t you that famous figure skater?” I'm still haunted by mine sports career. However, even though I do other things at the same time, with the greatest joy I do what I did when I was a little girl - ice skating. In Germany, unfortunately, today there are no famous names with which the country would identify itself.
Why do you think that is?
During my youth, our entire system supported young athletes and allowed them to achieve great success. Living conditions in the GDR were the same for everyone, and everyone received the same. But not in sports. In this sense, big sport in our socialist system was oriented “toward capitalism.” I studied at a sports school, and school program was coordinated with my individual training plan. I could afford to train seven hours a day. And today a young athlete must choose between school and sports. Three hours a day for training after school is very little. In addition, young people now have many other opportunities through which they can advance.
7 hours a day - for training, while others - at the cinema or with friends... Was it a conscious “sacrifice” or did your parents force you?
When I was very little, I often watched what was happening at the skating rink, which was located next to my kindergarten. At the age of five I started asking my parents to send me to the figure skating section. I begged until my mother took me there. I can't say that training for many hours was a sacrifice. I received a lot in return and only benefited from it.
How was your relationship with your coach Jutta Müller?
She “discovered” me at the age of 9. And she worked with me until I turned 28. Our relationship changed. Sometimes we were like two friends, sometimes she was my mentor, sometimes she replaced my parents. She was very strict. Yes, a coach cannot be a friend. I respected her and was a little afraid. I had a feeling for her that was similar to love... turning into hatred and back. But if she had not been so strict, without her knowledge, without her passionate energy, I would not have achieved what I have achieved. Often you come to great results through “pain”... We now regularly call each other, she is dedicated to my personal life. I learned a lot from Jutta Müller. She lives deep in my heart, but at the same time we are still on first name terms.
Be famous person in the GDR - it meant that the close attention of the special services to one’s person could not be avoided...
The intelligence services started watching me at the age of nine, as soon as my talent was noticed. I didn’t know then that I was being followed. I first discovered surveillance when I was 18. But I naively believed that they were guarding me so that nothing would happen to me. And I learned that they were employees of internal intelligence services much later, when I had the opportunity to familiarize myself with my personal file from the Stasi archives. It never even occurred to me then that they were deliberately watching me so that I would not escape to the West.
By the way, why didn't you do this?
I was so grateful to my country and people. I understood that I would never have had the success I had in the GDR. Besides, if I ended up in the West, I wouldn’t be able to see my parents. And you know, there is no such check and no amount that would “outweigh” this. Even freedom was not a good enough reason for me.
Now I already understand that my state used me. At that time we did not have access to other ideologies. I couldn't appreciate freedom because I didn't know it. But I passionately stood for our system. I was proud to come abroad, where I had to represent my country.
Yes, I grew up in the GDR and, naturally, believed in those ideals. But I also learned the things that shaped me. And then, my life was not like that of most people from the GDR. I had a lot of privileges. Sometimes it seems to me that now I live on some other planet.
In the Soviet Union, athletes were forced to give cash bonuses to the state, but what was the situation with this in the GDR?
We had cash prizes, for example, for winning the Olympics, but there was no access to them. The funds were transferred to the federation’s account, the athlete could receive them partially, that is, a certain percentage of this money, when he left big sport. One day I received a small gold coin as a reward, and they allowed me to keep it. Thanks to the awards, the federation had the opportunity to influence athletes. For example, they could freeze bonuses if an athlete wanted to retire from big-time sports ahead of time. He was allowed to leave only when a replacement was found. Therefore, sometimes athletes stayed in big sports longer than they wanted. However, this did not affect me.
How do you rate modern level figure skating? Where do you see weak points?
The flaw that I see in figure skating is the desire of many athletes to achieve technical “super perfection”. I mean combinations of three and four rotation jumps. I think that for a young body this can be fraught with serious consequences, it can lead to serious injuries, like Evgeni Plushenko, because of this he could not continue to fight in the last world championship.
They say you are lucky in everything except love...
You can’t have everything you want, although, of course, you often want to have just everything. I already had happy love and serious relationships with men, I can’t complain. Currently I am single and live alone. Last year and a half for the most part in Berlin, where I have an apartment. I travel a lot. And I can’t sacrifice my profession for the sake of a man, stop working. But I'm happy with what I have. I have many friends. Favorite work. And I'm vain. Money plays a secondary role for me, the main thing is that I am passionate about what I do.
Don't want to have a family or children?
Children? Don't know. So far this question has not arisen before me. As I already said, it is difficult for me to lead a normal life. If there was a child, I would have to stop working. And I'm a workaholic. In addition, at the moment there is no suitable candidate for the role of dad.
In the 80s you were a sex symbol for many Russian men, do you know about this?
It's a compliment. I think this had to do with the ability to show off beautifully on the ice, with choreography, with the plasticity of movements and, of course, with sexy costumes. I have never had a serious relationship with a Russian man. Your men are different from European and American men. I will never forget how I myself dragged heavy bags with skates, while the Russian athletes were helped by their partners. In this sense, I am closer to Eastern women.
By the way, not so long ago in Moscow I was in a dance club. I noticed how many beautiful and attractive women. But there was no suitable man for me there either. But I’m not looking, believe me...
Is it true that Garry Kasparov was wooing you?
What are you saying, I didn’t even know! I once received a telegram from Kasparov - congratulations on my victory in Olympic Games. Although it is customary for athletes to congratulate each other on victory, this was unusual and even... honorable for me.
You starred in Playboy magazine. Did you really get paid a million?
For 10 years - since winning the Olympic Games in Calgary - Playboy tried to get my consent to be photographed, they followed me on my heels. But while I was performing, being photographed naked was unthinkable for me. Only after I left big sport did I decide to try working with them. Besides, I was already famous - compared to those models who became famous thanks to their pictures in Playboy. Filming took place outdoors. Everything was natural. I remember standing naked under a waterfall. And I wanted to be not only erotic, but also feminine. I won’t give away the secret and therefore won’t answer what fee I received. Let me just say that it was a decent amount.
Personally, I exercise regularly and limit myself in food, although not always. Because I love chocolate and sweets. If I happen to give myself pleasure - to eat what I want, then I usually train more.
No, I haven’t had any plastic surgery yet. I don’t know what will happen in ten years - maybe it will happen again. In Moscow I saw many young girls with “chipped” lips. I think that there is nothing special about it, when narrow lips are made more plump, but this should not be noticeable. And silicone breasts on teenagers look terrible.
How would you like to celebrate your anniversary?
Most of all I would like to put on a show on ice on this day. And celebrate with the public. I would also like to come to Russia and perform again - on ice, of course - and win hearts. The people there are completely different, I feel it, and the living conditions are different. In Russia, a person will give his neighbor his last shirt, there is still cohesion between people. Apparently, it's in the Russians' blood...
