KATARINA WITT

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

Figure skating is a mixture of art and sport.

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

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

Sometimes I even now feel like a stranger in my country. But I knew there would be problems because I had seen the world as a skater. And now? A lot of people in eastern Germany have lost jobs, rents went up, food costs went up, unemployment went to 20 percent. Freedom is good, but it is not easy.

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

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

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

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

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.

When you're young, you don't think very far ahead. You just think in terms of the next day, the next week, the next competition. You don't think about injuries that could threaten your long-term health.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

I don't want to compete. I want to skate for the joy. I get so nervous in competition. I get always sick. I had pressures enough in my life from skating.

When you see the audiences and the smiling faces at the shows it really makes up for the work that you put in. I have a job I really love so whatever hecticness comes up - I'll just deal with it.

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

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

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.