Katarina Witt

As a gold medalist in 1984 and 1988 East German Katarina Witt became the first woman figure skater to retain an Olympic title since Sonja Henie. She was also a four-time World Champion (1984-85, 1987-88) and six-time European Champion (1983-88). After taking the Olympic, World and European titles she turned professional in 1988. With the return to Olympic eligibility of professionals Witt took part in the Winter Olympics for a third time in 1994, but some of the magic of the earlier days had gone and she finished seventh.

Witt became enormously wealthy because of her talent, but also because of her beauty, which attracted many commercial endorsements. She was considered one of the most dazzling and popular athletes at the end of the 20th century, especially due to her numerous professional shows. For this reason, she lived for many years in the USA, where she was quite popular. Witt appeared in nude photos in a 1998 edition of Playboy, which sold out worldwide for the first time since its first edition. From 1991-2008 she produced ice shows worldwide and appeared on German TV channel RTL in the 2006 revue Let’s Dance.

In 1984 Witt was voted GDR Athlete of the Year, and in 1988 she received the Olympic Order from Juan Antonio Samaranch. During the GDR period, she was heavily monitored by the Stasi (Ministry of State Security), including by her teammate Ingo Steuer; however, she later defended him. For a time she was the sister-in-law of her predecessor Anett Pötzsch, who had married her brother Axel. In 2010 she was inducted into the Hall of Fame of German Sports.