Happy Birthday wishes go out to my favorite figure skater Katarina Witt who turned 43 years old yesterday. "Kati" was born in Staaken, East Germany, just outside of Berlin. She attended a special school for sports-talented children called Kinder-und Jugendsportschule in East Germany. I wasn't able to find much personal information about Kati, but I do know she once dated Richard Dean Anderson from "MacGyver" and Stargate SG-1 fame. She currently makes her home in Berlin, Germany.

Kati is one of the most successful figure skaters of all time. She won two Olympic gold medals for East Germany, first in 1984 at Sarajevo, and again in 1988 at Calgary. She won the World Championships in 1984, 1985, 1987 and 1988 and six consecutive European Championships from 1983-1988.

In 1994, Kati qualified for the Olympics in Lillehammer where she finished 7th. Her competition in Lillihammer was thought of more as a celebration of freedom for her native East Germany than actual competition.

In 1995 Kati was inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame.

Kati skated professionally with fellow Olympic gold medalist Brian Boitano for three years in "Holiday on Ice". She also skated for over four years in the prestigious show "Stars on Ice".

Kati is also an actress and won an Emmy Award for her performance in "Carmen on Ice" in 1989. Kati also was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1995 for her performance in "Ice Princess". Kati has also had parts in the movie "Jerry McGuire", "Ronin" and the TV series V.I.P. She has graced the covers of many magazines including Playboy in 1988.


Kati, in partnership with Elixabeth Gottmann, has built a successful sports & entertainment production company called "With Witt". She has been the driving force behind shows including "Divas on Ice", and "Enjoy the Stars".


As if that wasn't enough, Kati has her own TV show, now going into it's second season called "Stars auf Eis" where she takes celebrities onto the ice to teach them to ice skate. And, she has three books, the most recent entitled "Only with Passion".