Katarina Witt

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

“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.”

“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.”

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

“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.”

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

“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.”

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

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

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

“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.”

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

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

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

“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.”

“Figure skating is a mixture of art and sport.”

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

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

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