Celebrity Heights: Katerina Witt

Profile: Katerina Witt

Katerina was born December 3, 1965, in East Berlin, Germany. She is an ice skater - athlete, an artist, an actress, a television personality and a business woman. A true superstar, few woman have a celebrated talent with more style and grace than this striking German beauty. In the course of a truly unique career, she's won more titles than anyone, and has become the most successful figure-skater of all time. From Katrinas humble beginnings in the former East German city of Karl-Marx-Stadt, she dominated the women's figure skating in the 80s. She began skating at the age of five at the Karl-Marx-Stadt Sports Club. Katarina went to school while she learned to skate under the direction of Bernd Egert. When she was nine, Katarina was placed under the coaching direction of one of worlds most prominent skating coaches, Jutta Muller. Katarina was soon spending four hours a day on the ice, sacrificing leisure time and family life for the sport she so loved. In 1990, she won an Emmy Award for her starring performance in the title role of HBO's "Carmen on Ice." She also starred in the CBC-TV special "Women in Red" which was broadcast through out Europe and Canada. Katarina has enjoyed continued success as a performing professional touring North America with several figure skating troupes, including "Skating I & II". Katarina made her skating debut with "Discover Card Stars on Ice". In recent years, Witt has become a media fixture lending her talents to television, motion pictures and sports commentary. Katarina co-produced a modern adaptation of the classic "Cinderella", called "Ice Princess". On two occasions, 'People' magazine has named her "One of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World". Katarina has also provided colorful sports commentary for CBS-TV of the Olympic Winter Games in Albertville, France, the World Figure Skating Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia, and German TV ZDF coverage of the World Figure Skating Championships in Munich. After regaining her amateur status in 1993, Katarina competed in her third Olympic Winter Games at Lillehammer, Norway where she finished sixth. Katarina was given the Jim Thorpe Pro Sports Award for her outstanding achievements as an athlete, and is also the first German ever to be given the award. Katarina makes her home in Berlin and New York, N.Y. Today, she has established herself as a businesswoman with her own company, Witt Sports & Entertainment GmbH, and her name stands for quality.