I'm pretty sure very few people would recognize Kati as an "artistic" skater if she were not physically beautiful. If she weren't, we would have instead thought she was an eager jumper with unconventional Jutta Muller technique who could skate on the beat and tried to be theatrical in a very dated way (probably how Jutta herself skated in the '50s).

Old rivalries

What a stupid comment! In the "Eastern Bloc" we listened to the same music than you, just you had no glue about "our" music. Do not project your ignorance to the reality of the world on others. There was nothing "pioneering" in choosing such music. Katharina Witt was in the line with many other fantastic sports women (and men) in the German Democratic Republic.

I still love Katarina. It may be because she reminds me so much of a super athletic drag queen (she also seems to be a very lovely, principled and fun person). She does such a good job at imitating and posing that you can't help but admire the moxy and the sheer dedictaion to the character, even if it's not really all that well executed. This style contrasts significantly with a Janet Lynn or Michelle Kwan or even Mao Asada. Their interpretation wasn't based on mimicry--it came from a being able to emote by using technique correctly, through edge quality and star studded choreography. This may be what Peggy is referring to when she criticized the choreo.

and even though Roz choked, her choreo blew Katarina's out of the water. Kat gets close to admitting this. In an interview after the Games, Katarina says that she watched Roz's performance and thought her technical components were lacking, but her artistic was very good. That's a paraphrase from memory...

Caryn Kadavy? Jill Trenary?

I have a different opinion. I always thought she looked very stiff with rigid arms, upper body and legs. Some of her positions are also somewhat ugly. The layback, the catch foot spins are examples. Spread eagle too. Strange bent over positions in the slow section (which looked great when Toller Cranston did similar ones). There are others. You can see from the up close and personal (before the SP), that the girl couldn't move/dance well at all. Although she did hit highlights on the beat of the music, many jumps were set up with long, straight lines (sal, flip, last toe loop). Quite a bit of 2-foot skating in the slow section too. But I liked the tapping. I'm pretty sure very few people would recognize Kati as an "artistic" skater if she had not been physically gorgeous. We would have instead thought she was an eager jumper with unconventional Jutta Muller technique who could skate on the beat and tried to be theatrical. Period. Just my opinion.

@@robertsoslow733 The pull up Camel spin is lovely, you must be watching something different. Sumners leg position in the layback was ugly. Witt’s is turned out - ballet style which creates a much nicer line

@@victoriagill3337 Her camel spin was beautiful and fast, her only spin with a nice position. The catch foot and layback positions were designed to hide her inflexible upper back. Yes, her free leg in the layback was very nice, better than Sumners. But it's not really layed back. The highest point on her body during the spin is her chin, not her chest. And the catchfoot was developed in response to what was perceived as a competetive threat from Denise Biellmann. It's a very poor response (and slow), in my opinion, but it must have been deemed an acceptable substitute for a real Biellmann once Denise was gone.

But I loved Katarina. I just don't think she had good positions at all.

She did a triple loop in 1987 LP?

@@martinlalonde979 She was extremely inconsistent on it tho, 1987 Worlds was the only time I remember her hitting the loop, and she doubled it both in Calgary and the 1988 Worlds. I kinda wish she kept her double Lutz in Calgary 88, even though it wasn't the most difficult jump, it would've added some combination points to her Salchow or toe loop. She also had more difficulty when she was younger, I believe she had a triple flip in 1982 and 1983 (which she was also inconsistent in). Her presentation really improved tho, which is why she still remains one of my favorite skaters along with Yuna Kim

@@mht4908 She was a skater of are time she did c category of jump and some time b How many time Thomas did a triple flip?Even Denise B. with the triple lutz how many time she did it ? Witt had presentation charisma and the attitude of the champion.Witt had very good technique she had speed in and out of the jump the distance and ( but she had bad stroking and she is not the pure edge skater ...Witt and Ito are the 2 only women to present 2 triples jumps in combination at Calgary. Never forget that Witt had 2 operations on both ankle. You can't check the LP Carmen of 1988 of Witt for the EC she must had work like crazy to be fit for Calgary.

@@martinlalonde979 I agree with you, I was just pointing out how Katarina was still able to win against Debbie who had more difficult jumps overall. One thing about her that Debbie and Rosalynn couldn't do was to hit when it counted the most. Katarina was under immense pressure to win in Calgary, likely more than Debbie's pressure to win because her freedom was on the line, anything less than gold would mean she has to become a judge or coach in East Germany instead of a professional touring around the world. Katarina shined under the pressure, Debbie faltered. Hence why she is a double Olympic champion. People love her because not only is her presentation exquisite, she always rises to the occasion, and she earned every single opportunity she has

@@mht4908 We know the story you win you can go and make a million dollars in contract if you lose you stay in GDR and become a coach. Debie Thomas never did a triple flip T.Chin try it J.T did it...

yes she knew she had to medal. but she loved the sport anyway

@@jakob1095 she had to win. When she came second she got a reprimand in the form of an official letter stating that they were very disappointed in her, she had let her country down and must try harder

Quit whining, you capitalist pig dog!

I did read an article where Katarina Witt said that she was not given steroids. Not because of ethical reasons or the effects they might have on her health. The East German sports officials simply felt that steroids wouldn't benefit female figure skaters because they needed to look like women on the ice, not to mention bulking up would mess up their ability to land triple jumps. Instead of steroids, Katarina said she was deprived of food much of the time in order to maintain a very slim physique.

Me too! I hope someone knows the answer. I do remember K saying that she had a mistake in her program, but she was referring to the popped 3-sal at the beginning of the program.

I think she and Frau Muller discussed taking the 3F out in advance, I don’t think it was that secure and I think they thought she probably didn’t need to risk it

I read an article about Katarina Witt, and she said she was never put on steroids. Not that the East German officials were concerned about the effect on her health or the ethics of taking performance-enhancing drugs. She said that it was felt that steroids would not benefit female figure skaters, who needed to look like women on the ice. Instead, Katarina said she was constantly exhorted to lose weight in place of steroids.

What? Her beautiful style and grace has NOTHING in common with Tonya Harding!

@@rekr3316 if you look at some of Harding's earlier programs....late 80s, when that crop was coming up (Yamaguchi, Harding, Kerrigan). Harding was athletic but definitely crisp. Seemed a little more fluid then.

Again: she was such an artist on the ice, since 1983 she had always the best choreographed programs! She was way ahead of the other skaters!

You mean Harding and Yamaguchi’s styles are more like hers? She preceded both

@@victoriagill3337 Yes. With reference to time, KW is the predecessor. I guess I should have made KY and TH the subject and said well, I can see each in KW before they arrived on the [Senior] level, I guess? I saw more athletic style in the earlier KW programs (I guess because she was younger and more physically agile) and more drama and artistry later on (e.g. Carmen 1988). I do think both TH and KY exceeded her talent in athleticism and artistry, respectively. I loved how Kristy's jumps were still challenging and strong and the takeoffs and landing flowed seamlessly with the choreography, which was stunningly subtle and elegant (whereas KW seemed a bit more theatrical in the Carmen program).

You willingly post rubbish.

Aside from her camel spin, there isn't one position in this program that is pretty or well done. Remember what they said about Sasha Cohen? You could stop the video at any point and she'd be in perfect position. Not so with Katarina, not at all. She could skate really fast in a straight line and had big jumps. This and her physical attributes led to gold.

@@robertsoslow733 couldn’t agree with you more on both Witt and Cohen! To this day, I think Cohen, along with Robin Cousins are the gold standard in figure skating when it comes to body lines.

Well it was good enough to become the olympic Champion...

It was a lot better than her competitors put out which is why she won

@@victoriagill3337 not a lot better. 0.1 points better. Witt actually choked on 2 triples here, but we were mesmerized by her body, so very few people noticed

@@robertsoslow733 well you might have been, I was watching her skate and if anyone choked triples at this competition it was Sumners who I think still holds the record for the number of Axels in a 4 minute programme, don’t imagine she successfully landed a 2Lz 3T combination

@@victoriagill3337 I don't look at girls that way. You are right, though, Sumners choked much worse that Witt. I'm not saying KW shouldn't have won, I'm just saying I didn't think was that great of a skater. She was physically very strong and a master competitor and performer. Her coach was enormously powerful and influential. It was easy to ignore her deficiencies.

None of the ladies' skating from 1984 has aged well lol

@@lflagr I still think Tiffany Chin, Roz Sumners and Kondrashova were lovely skaters. They just didn't have KW's killer instinct.