Katarina Witt Quotes

It's hard work to make a four-minute program look effortless and elegant.

Figure skating is a mixture of art and sport.

When I go out on the ice, I just think about my skating. I forget it is a competition.

Money was never the motivation. It never should be in sports.

I'm the sort of person who needs a big mountain in front of me to climb.

Almost nothing is presented to you on a silver platter. You have to really work for it.

I can't say, 'It doesn't matter if you win or lose.' It's not true. You go in to win.

When I get up, I have a cup of coffee, surf the Internet, then do a half-hour run.

It's not like I didn't do anything for 10 years and chose a new profession. I've been on the ice a lot. I'm not an outsider.

I was the very first athlete in East Germany allowed to go professional.

I learned not to depend on other people. I needed support, but it's you who has to go out and deliver.

I never really like to skate in an empty ice rink; I always need the attention of an audience.

I started the class late. The teacher said I would have to learn as much in half a year that the others learned in a year. I did it.

Every man prefers to look at a well-shaped woman instead of a rubber ball.

I hope that I can maintain my skating as long as possible.

I never had a serious injury that kept me out of a big competition. Now everyone has injuries - to their feet or their knees or their backs.

I want to see sunrises in the mountains. You never get to see such things enough in a lifetime. I want to see more.

I was an athlete. And I proved I didn't win just because I was pretty. I was good, too.

When you reach a certain level, you live in a bubble when all you think, dream and breathe is becoming the best athlete in the world.

When youre young, you dont think very far ahead. You just think in terms of the next day, the next week, the next competition. You dont think about injuries that could threaten your long-term health.

Sometimes, success almost haunts you. You want to be the best at everything you do and know you have to work hard.

I know this is maybe naive, but one day I hope there will be peace in the world. Maybe one day the flowers will come back.

The desire to really compete again has been there for a long time.

The feeling of losing oneself in somebody's arms, yet at the same time finding oneself there, is irreplaceable. Nothing compares to the intensity of that feeling.

Too many times women try to be competitive with each other. We should help support each other, rather than try to be better than each other.

As an athlete, you choose your sport and are drawn into it but your passion should never be driven by fame and fortune but a desire to create something special that people will always remember.

Skating taught me to set a goal and to block out other things and just focus on this one thing.