"Only With Passion" by Katarina Witt

[peanutskates]

Has anyone read this book? I have just finished it, and must recommend it to all skaters, athletes or young people.

I found it very inspirational and it had lots of good advice. The book does not focus on Katarina herself but rather on a fictional girl named Jasmine who is a mixture of some young people whom Miss Witt knows. It follows Jasmine's dilemma of choosing skating or her boyfriend and draws in many of Katarina Witt's own life experiences.

This book was very intelligent, emotional and (in parts) entertaining. Witt never pretends that she always works hard and is perfect - some accounts of her youth are very funny and she is honest and down to earth. This book has left me inspired both as a skater and a teenage girl.

Read it, you won't regret it!

(btw, my signature is a quote from Katarina. i think that it is very true, and is great advice to all athletes)

[Nicki]

I started to read this book, but I found it didn't hold my attention, so I didn't finish it. Glad to hear that the book was so inspirational to you though. Maybe I'l try reading it again another time.

[Lark]

I would buy a book detailing her time as a spy with the German stasi! That would be cool!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/05/05/witt05.xml

[Bailey]

I too would buy a book detailing her life in East Germany. But, I think nothing about this article because I would expect her to do nothing else. The old saying is... "keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer." I think it's obvious that they had a mutually beneficial relationship - she recieved many benefits as the Russian skaters also recieved benefits - in return for her sporting accomplishments and profile that was exploited by the state. I would be much more in Katerina's experience as she lived and dealt with this system...

[Lark]

I hold absolutely nothing against Witt for her past. Nothing at all.

I see what she did as nothing less or more than I would do if the American government asked me to do it. She never killed anyone, to my knowledge.

[Isk8NYC]

I started to read this book, but I found it didn't hold my attention, so I didn't finish it. Glad to hear that the book was so inspirational to you though. Maybe I'l try reading it again another time.I thought it was catty and condescending. I remember her talking about having a bustline and putting down - was it Sasha Cohen? - for being flat-chested.

While it starts out focused on the skater, Katerina's reminiscences became more and more frequent and reminded me of flashback scenes. After a while, I could actually imagine the fuzzy, wavy images you would see on a bad sitcom. Then I figured out it was just putting me to sleep over and over again. I had to force myself to finish it, just to see how it ended. LOL

Don't get me wrong, I loved watching Katerina skate. I like her as a commentator. I just didn't enjoy the book.