Katarina Witt biography personal life. Farewell to the beautiful Katarina Witt

By nature, she is an athlete, and the most successful figure skater of all time. Known as "fire on ice", Katharina Witt represented in figure skating former East Germany. 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, they returned it historical name. 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 signed 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 completed 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 Olympic Games in Lillehammer. 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 video screens of rinks showing important moments of her world career, and she again 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 have no 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 Olympian. In addition to her work in funds, production work, filming in television shows and films, Katarina Witt writes books. Of those published: "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.

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 does not exist now.
She was called "the most beautiful face of socialism" and, of course, hated.

So, the year is 1984. The Olympic Games in Sarajevo where there is no war yet. Katharina Witt:

A figure skater from socialist Germany went to a demonstration performance to Nazi music. No, not like that...Under .

Short program-1984. Katarina Witt and the Hungarian chardash.
An impartial American judge gave Katarina 5.5 for technique and 5.6 for artistry. The marks that skaters usually get 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, Katarina Witt still received the gold medal.

Free program in Sarajevo-1984. This time the American judge gave up and gave 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 Katarina Witt was the "face of socialism", she was hated by the so-called "Soviet intelligentsia". The fact is that the "intelligentsia" did not understand much in figure skating, but they knew for sure that the ideal figure skaters are Belousova and Protopopov. These are 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 which was Katarina Witt, in pair skating, Soviet couples 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 they became an ideal for the "intelligentsia".

The "Soviet intelligentsia" knew for sure that a real skater should escape to the West. Well, for a German figure skater to escape to West Germany is just a holy cause. Katarina 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, they practice writing all sorts of vile things, especially against women.
In those distant times, i.e. in the 1980s, "intellectuals" liked to point out that Katharina had ugly legs. Well, I agree that her legs are not perfect, the muscles are visible. Well, she is an athlete, not a fashion model. Not everyone has a perfect figure, like Valeria Novodvorskaya.

Since Katarina Witt never married and has no children, "liberal journalism" throughout the 90s practiced writing all sorts of insinuations, to the point that the bloody German hell gave her some drugs, from which she generally not like a woman. (Although in the case of figure skating, there is no point in such preparations at all. After all, it is not strength that is important there, but coordination of movements).
In fact, Katarina had quite normal relationships with men (she is definitely not a lesbian). And the unwillingness to breed, unfortunately, is a typical feature of the Germans. And it's not that "there are a lot of queers among the Germans" (as the "spiritually strong" like to say). Germans and Germans are selfish and most of all value their individual comfort. In addition, the Germans are workaholics (because when Katarina says that she could not exchange work for a family, I believe her. This is typical for a German).
I note that the inhabitants of "free" West Germany have ceased to breed for a very long time. The backward East Germans from the GDR still somehow had children, but after reunification they stopped. It's sad, but there's nothing to be done.

Curiously, Chancellor Merkel has been married twice. However, for some reason, he does not have children. Unlike Katarina Witt, who simply did not marry. But for some reason, no one makes up insinuations about Frau Merkel. Probably because Frau Merkel likes the "liberal intelligentsia".

There was also a favorite feature of the "liberals" - to tell that Katarina Witt was a mistress Eric Honecker. Well, it is clear that the German figure skater could not win the competition in any way, if the 76-year-old general secretary did not personally "bless" her. And in general, according to the "liberals", in the GDR they did not seek to demonstrate sports success to the whole world, and did not create ideal conditions for athletes for this. No, there all the management first fucked the skaters, and only then gave them a winning pill from the secret safes of the gebni.
The fact is that a "liberal" is a creature in which everything is below the belt. He has no brain, no heart, no soul. In his head is what ordinary people have below the belt. And he is trying to ascribe his understanding of life to normal people.

Sorry for ruining the mood. Yes, the world is not perfect.

Calgary-1988. Carmen and the second Olympic gold:

*Someone may ask: "How can this be second And the only? Is comrade Machine gun talking now?" Yes, everything is simple :) The first was Sonya Henie. But in 1936, she won the Olympic Games in Nazi Berlin and became a three-time champion.

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 special 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. professional activity was not. 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.

She could not imagine a united Germany: in her youth she enjoyed her privileges in the GDR, after the unification she had to endure difficult moments. Figure skating star Katarina Witt talks in an interview about her life in both German states.

Katharina Witt, born in 1965, six-time European champion, four-time world champion, two-time Olympic champion in figure skating: in Sarajevo (1984) and Calgary (1988). She was one of the most famous athletes of the GDR and is known throughout the world as one of the most successful figure skaters. In 1994, as part of the general German team, she took part in another Olympics, in Lillehammer. Today, in addition to other activities, she is also an entrepreneur.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Mrs. Witt, you will soon be 50 years old, the first half of which you lived in the GDR, and the second in Federal Republic. What is the most memorable time for you?

Witt: Well, the time of childhood, adolescence, it is remembered more strongly, I suppose. It's like music, a song with which you experienced the first love, the first pain of the heart, the first "fly away", it will forever remain in your head with such an emotional connection.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: What about those imprinted moments of your childhood?

Witt: First, of course, my carefree childhood in the family, and then sports: discipline, submission for just one thing. And despite the "corset", it was in the GDR that one could obtain a degree of freedom that was by no means self-evident.

"Spiegel online": Which you received as a sports star.

Witt: Of course, for me it was a great advantage to be able to travel around in my youth. It was truly a privilege. Although, of course, there were no vacation trips. Everything was linked to sports, competitions here, performances there. That is, no lying belly up under the sun. But it was a huge chance to discover the unknown with surprise and see something.

Spiegel Online: Ice Stadiums of the World?

Witt: Theirs, of course, but there was something else on the way to them. You just had to keep your eyes open when you ride the bus around the city. Besides, Ms Muller...

Spiegel Online: ... Your coach...

Witt: ... always paid attention to this, I am very grateful to her for this. Her attitude was: "Baby, who knows if you will ever be able to visit Paris again, so we are now going to the Eiffel Tower." It advanced me very much that I could travel, that I matured as a person thanks to this. I learned to be open to new impressions, not to say, unlike others: "either in my opinion, or not at all."

SPIEGEL ONLINE: If at that time you were asked abroad where you were from, what did you answer: "I'm German" or "I'm from the GDR"?

Witt: For me, these concepts were absolutely separate, the answer was always: "I'm from the GDR."

SPIEGEL ONLINE: So you felt like a citizen of the GDR in the first place?

Witt: Yes, definitely. I was born in a country where they spoke the same language as in West Germany, but I have always viewed my country as a separate and independent country. This has never been doubted by me. And if today it can, depending on the desire, be considered as a forced or logical step that the unification of the Germans took place, then I simply could not even imagine it. In any case, I could not do this as a very young man then.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Your sporting successes were used for political purposes, as a sports star you were the ambassador of the GDR and, as has always been said, "the most beautiful face of socialism."

Witt: However, this expression was invented by an American journalist, a Time Store reporter, who logically wrote before the 1988 Olympic Games: "If Kati Witt is the real face of socialism, America would willingly become socialist." Of course, I was perceived as a representative of the GDR. And at the same time as a kind of counter-project.

"Spiegel online": What do you mean?

Witt: The image of the GDR was rather the following: gray, bleak, one size fits all. And then I appeared, let's say, as something completely different. Because I have always been joyful, and my costumes are more colorful and extravagant than others. Show and glamor are also indispensable components of figure skating: even if everything hurts, you need to do it as if you have wings instead of legs knocked down in blood.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: In 1988, before the reunion, you started your career as a professional athlete: ice shows, films, big tours of the USA. A big step forward, or?

Witt: Yes, it was a big change in life. Even if I could no longer be an athlete. Before that, newspapers wrote about me in the sports sections, many journalists accompanied me for years, admiringly empathizing with my ascent. And suddenly, literally in a day, I moved to the pages of the yellow press. It was no longer the triple jump that became interesting, but fictional stories about me and Prince Albert, or Boris Becker.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: And then it was time for the reunion...

Witt: ... and I found myself in a new situation. In America, I got a lot of recognition, incredible success from my tours. And at home a whole wave rose up against me, partly with accusations, partly, oh, however, this is all in the past.

Spiegel online: Spiegel once wrote about the "witch hunt" declared on you: the once popular Kati became, as the Bild newspaper put it, a "goat from the Socialist Unity Party of Germany" (the ruling party in GDR - approx. per.)

Witt: It was hard then. It was a really strange contrast. In America, I became a symbol of freedom: "She came from behind the Iron Curtain," "She's finally free," "She can do whatever she wants." The Americans had a completely different idea of ​​me. Of course, I played along with this, at the same time entering into discussions here, but without substituting the people who helped and supported me.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Did you then think about leaving Germany for a long time?

Witt: No, for this step I had too strong ties with family and friends. And at the same time, curiosity about what is happening now with our country, and it took some time until I was able to pronounce "our country." In any case, I wanted to see the changes taking place, first of all, in Berlin. My apartment overlooked Potsdamer Platz, and I wanted to empathize with the changes in my city.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Since when do you say "our country"?

Witt: It didn't happen soon after the reunion. The 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer, where I first went as part of a unified German team, was a good reason to start talking like that, but it took me a couple more years.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: So it's a good thing you didn't win another gold medal in 1994. Otherwise, you would have to sort out your relationship with the German anthem.

Witt: Ah, it was clear to me from the very beginning that my win would be another wonder of the world. But really, the situation would be peculiar. You can't honestly roar to two different hymns.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: And today you are talking about Germany as "our country"?

Witt: Of course. And I do feel proud. I find that we can be satisfied with what our country stands for - freedom, democracy, a certain level of prosperity, and also friendliness. We Germans could not always appreciate all this.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: How well do you know Germany?

Witt: Oh my God, here again you come across how well imprinted what once learned as a child. When I am invited to quiz shows, I know something different about questions about geography, music or films than guests who grew up in the West. However, my contribution to the history and culture of West Germany is also limited. I recently talked about federal lands, I think there are 15 of them?

Spiegel online: 16.

Witt: Well, I got it. There were 15 districts in the GDR. You see how firmly what you learned in your youth stays in your head. Although something new comes in every day. This shows how important upbringing, sports and life-tested values ​​remain.

Photo: imago/ Hartenfelser
Katharina Witt in June in Frankfurt: today she is also an entrepreneur among other things.

Photo: Imago
First success: Coach Jutta Müller congratulates 13-year-old Katarina Witt. The figure skater in 1979 took third place, bringing the first medal to the treasury of the GDR team.

Photo: Imago
Pirouettes for a photo shoot in 1982: Katharina Witt's career skyrocketed, in the 80s she became a four-time world champion and a six-time European champion.

Photo: Imago
A grand triumph for an 18-year-old girl: at the 1984 Olympic Games in Sarajevo, Katharina Witt won the main title, narrowly beating American Rosalinn Sumners.

Photo: Imago
With a visit to a pioneer camp on Brandenburg Lake Werbellin in the summer of 1984: the leadership of the GDR used the successes of Katarina Witt for political purposes, considering the figure skater as an advertisement for the country.

Photo: Imago
Hard training in ballet: choreographer Rudi Zuhi controls Katarina Witt's posture in December 1984.

Photo: Imago
Katarina Witt posing with plush toys in 1986. "The image of the GDR was rather gray, bleak, one size fits all. And I imagined, let's say, something completely different from this," she says today.

Photo: AP
Rejoicing with coach Jutta Müller over the gold of the 1987 World Championship in Cincinnati: "Of course, it was a great advantage for me that I could travel already in my youth," Katarina says about those times.

Photo: AP
On August 25, 1987, Katharina Witt congratulates Erich Honecker, Chairman of the State Council of the GDR, on his 75th birthday. The privileges were accompanied by supervision by state security agencies.

Photo: AP
Katharina Witt, member of the GDR Olympic team at the 1988 Games in Calgary: in Canada she repeated her 1984 success.

Photo: Imago
Honoring the winner: with her free program to the music of Georges Bizet for the opera Carmen, Katharina Witt outperformed Canadian Elizabeth Manley (left) and American Debbie Thomas in the fight for gold. In the same year, even before the reunification of the two Germanys, she began her professional career - ice shows, films, big tours of the United States.

Photo: Getty Images
In 1994, after returning to amateur sports, Katarina Witt once again took part in the Olympic Games, this time in Lillehammer, as part of a single German team.

Photo: DPA
Over the roofs of Frankfurt am Main, late 90s: "I find we can be satisfied with what our country stands for - freedom, democracy, prosperity, and friendliness," says Katarina Witt of today's united Germany.

Photo: AP
In 1999, visiting the program "I bet that?". The presenter Thomas Gottschalk leafs through the issue of Playboy dedicated to Katarina Witt with interest.

Photo: AP
The athlete regularly performed in her shows until 2008. Here she is captured in Erfurt, in 2002.

Photo: Getty Images
Katharina Witt in 2007, member Laureus World Sports Academy, at the awards ceremony in Barcelona. Over the years, she has also participated as a presenter, actress and TV pundit.

Photo: DPA
Katarina Witt at the Sochi 2014 Olympics: The former figure skater also led Munich's bid to host the 2018 Olympics.

WE MET at her favorite cafe Oranium in the center of East Berlin. Every now and then Katarina was approached for autographs ...

During my last trip to Moscow, when I went through passport control at the airport, a border guard asked: Are you that famous figure skater? I'm still haunted by my sports career. However, even though I do other things in parallel, with the greatest joy I do what I did when I was a little girl - I skate. In Germany, unfortunately, today there are no well-known names, such with which the country would identify itself.

- WHY do you think why?

During my youth, our entire system supported young athletes, 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 towards capitalism. I went to sports school and school program was consistent 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 - in the cinema or with friends ... Was it a conscious sacrifice or did your parents force you?

When I was very young, I often watched what was happening at the skating rink, which was located next to my kindergarten. At the age of five, I began to ask my parents to send me to the figure skating section. I begged until my mother took me there. I can't say that hours of training were a sacrifice. I received a lot in return and only benefited from it.

- How did your relationship develop with your coach Jutta Müller?

She discovered me at the age of 9. And she worked with me until I was 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, the coach and can not be a friend. I respected her and was a little afraid. I had a feeling for her, similar to love ... turning into hatred and vice versa. 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 high 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 with you.

Best of the day

- Being a famous person in the GDR meant that the close attention of the special services to one's person could not be avoided ...

The secret services began to follow me from the age of nine, as soon as my talent was noticed. I didn't know then that I was being followed. For the first time, I discovered surveillance at the age of 18. But I naively believed that I was being guarded so that nothing would happen to me. And I found out that they were employees of the internal intelligence services much later, when I had the opportunity to get acquainted with my personal file from the Stasi archives. Then it could not have occurred to me that they were purposefully following me so that I would not run away to the West.

By the way, why didn't you do it?

I was so grateful to my country and people. I understood that nowhere would I have had such success as 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 such 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 was supposed 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 the same as that of most people from the GDR. I had many 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 how was 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 account of the federation, the athlete could receive them partially, that is, a certain percentage of this money when he left the big sport. Once I was rewarded with a small gold coin, which I was allowed to keep. Thanks to the awards, the federation had the opportunity to influence athletes. For example, they could freeze bonuses if an athlete wanted to leave big sport ahead of time. He was allowed to leave only when he had a replacement. Therefore, sometimes athletes stayed in big-time sports longer than they wanted. However, it didn't affect me.

- How do you rate modern level figure skating? Where do you see weaknesses?

The disadvantage that I see in figure skating is the desire of many athletes to achieve technical super-perfection. I mean combinations of jumps in three and four turns. I think that for a young organism 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 everything. I already had a happy love, and a serious relationship with men, I can’t complain. I am currently single and live alone. The last year and a half mostly 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 burn with the work that I do.

- No desire to have a family, children?

Children? Don't know. So far, this question has not arisen before me. As I 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 the pope.

- In the 80s, you were a sex symbol for many Russian men, do you know about it?

It's a compliment. I think this was due to the ability to show oneself 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. I will never forget how I myself dragged heavy bags with skates, while 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 the right man for me was not there either. But I'm not looking, believe me ...

- Is it true that Garry Kasparov wooed you?

What are you talking about, I didn't even know! I once received a telegram from Kasparov - congratulations on winning the Olympic Games. Although it is customary among athletes to congratulate each other on a victory, it was unusual for me and even ... honorable.

- You starred in Playboy magazine. Did you really get paid a million?

10 years - from the moment of winning the Calgary Olympics - Playboy tried to get my consent to shoot, they followed me on their heels. But while I was performing, being photographed naked was unthinkable for me. Only after I left the big sport, I decided to try to work with them. Besides, I was already famous - compared to those models who became famous thanks to their pictures in Playboy. Filming took place in nature. Everything was natural. I remember standing naked under a waterfall. And I wanted to be not only erotic, but also feminine. I will not give out a secret and therefore I will not answer what fee I received. I can only say that it was a decent amount.

Personally, I regularly go in for sports and limit myself in food, though not always. Because I love chocolate and sweets. If it happens to give myself pleasure - to eat what I want, then I usually train more.

No plastic surgery, not done yet. I don't know what will happen in ten years - maybe I'll have to. In Moscow, I saw many young girls with chipped lips. I think that there is nothing like that when narrow lips are made more plump, but this should not be noticeable. And silicone breasts in teenagers look terrible.

- How would you like to celebrate your anniversary?

Most of all on this day I would like to arrange a show on ice. And celebrate with the audience. 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 solidarity between people. Apparently, Russians have it in their blood...