Pic of the Week

All this talk about Katarina Witt last week got me thinking about two other figure skaters that I count amongst my favorites. And I dearly miss them from competition but that is the way of things I suppose.

My favorite moment for Kati Winkler & Rene Lohse came at the 2004 World Championship. This event was their final competitive event as eligible skaters and it was in Germany, their home country.

To understand how special an event this was for this Ice Dance team, you must understand their history. They made it to the World Championships as often as they didn't. This team had so many fluke injuries over the years it's amazing they made it all the way to 2004 competitively. Also leading up to the 2004 World Championships, they had missed most of the season due to injury so it was simply a blessing they were there.

But the amazing part is they skated so well! Three teams that had given them a run the past season, Grushina and Goncharov, Belbin and Agosto, as well as Delobel and Schoenfelder, were unable to get past the Germans who gave the performances of their lives! In the end, Kati and Rene won the Bronze Medal, and, most importantly for them, the crowd! Just to bring this full circle, their biggest fan cheering for them at the event...Katarina Witt (Apparently Katarina and Kati go way back).

Below is another favorite program of mine they performed during the 2000-2001 season. It's Gospel inspired and quite original!