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Only With Passion: Figure Skating's Most Winning Champion on Competition and Life Hardcover – October 17, 2005

by Katarina Witt (Author)
3.9 3.9 out of 5 stars 32 ratings
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In the glamorous, ultra-competitive world of figure skating, Katarina Witt is a living legend. She has won more titles than anyone else before her — including two Olympic gold medals, four world championships, and eight national championships. She is also renowned for independence and self-possession in a world where many stars are in thrall to management companies, and for her ability to stay true to skating while developing new careers in business, movies and television.

Witt has always done whatever she's done with all her heart — with passion, intelligence, and a love of perfection. Now, in Only with Passion, she offers advice to a new generation of women athletes making their way in the world on how to live full out, compete with edge, and navigate life with grace. When a young skater consults her for advice on whether to train abroad — and leave a boyfriend behind — Witt finds occasion to recall the major turning points of her own journey, from her East German childhood to the international spotlight. She shares her inside perspective and frank opinions on the insular world of skating and offers her views about what it takes to be a champion, and to create a fulfilling life. Whether she's talking about life on or off the ice (or on the cover of Playboy !), Witt is always candid, fresh, and down-to-earth.

Written with E.M. Swift, author of My Sergei , one of the best-selling skating books of all time, Only with Passion is the perfect gift for young women, young athletes —particularly skaters — and skating fans of all ages.

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Previous page
  1. Print length
    192 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    PublicAffairs
  4. Publication date
    October 17, 2005
  5. Dimensions
    5.5 x 0.75 x 8.25 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1586482742
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1586482749
  8. See all details
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The Amazon Book Review
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Two-time Olympic figure skating gold medalist Witt (b. 1965) offers advice to a young skater (a composite character) on love, career and succeeding as an athlete. Using this platform, Witt discusses her training, competitions and business decisions (including her Playboy layout), and while she claims to discuss her relationships, too, she's quite vague on that front. Despite Swift's help, the writing is stilted and stiff. The glimpses into Witt's life in the Communist former German Democratic Republic are too infrequent; the few tidbits she offers, though, are fascinating. For example, she discovered by reading her Stasi file that the government had arranged for her boyfriend to be stationed in the army far away from her, so as not to distract her from her skating. Witt relates the incident with amusement; she's proud of the GDR and unafraid to defend it. The opinionated Witt deserves credit for being an inspiration to young female athletes and, perhaps, to all young women as they try to get ahead. She's unapologetic in her desire for success, even in sacrificing having a family, which she argues, refreshingly, isn't a sacrifice at all. Athletes, and figure skaters specifically, will most appreciate the lessons Witt shares.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"She's unapologetic in her desire for success.... Athletes, and figure skaters specifically, will most appreciate the lessons Witt shares." -- Publishers Weekly, 8/22/05

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ PublicAffairs (October 17, 2005)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 192 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1586482742
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1586482749
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.75 x 8.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.9 3.9 out of 5 stars 32 ratings

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Katarina Witt

Katarina Witt

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Customer reviews

3.9 out of 5 stars
3.9 out of 5
32 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Caroline Anderson
5.0 out of 5 stars paperback
Reviewed in the United States on June 12, 2013
Verified Purchase
This is quite an interesting biography for people who are familiar with Katarina Witt. I actually gave one as a gift and it was well received.
One person found this helpful
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Nil Onur
4.0 out of 5 stars She is the best!!
Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2007
I am not a skater but I am a great fan of Katarina Witt since my childhood..I have grown up with watching her skating programmes and when I was a little girl I was wearing my rollerblades at home and I was Katarina Witt:)collecting all the flowers -that my mum,grandfather,and other family members that I made them throw me flowers:))-but due to the lack of skating arenas I have never been able to start to skate seriously although I was very talented and willing but I always admired Katarina Witt.This book is really good for me to observe the mentality of the East German approach for sport and emposing being ambitious and tough to their sporters.I have read some comments regarding this book before ,some people say this book will not be a good example for young skaters in mean of nutrition but I want to say that in these years we were not as conscious as today regarding nutrition.Remember we were still watching the Cigarette Advertisements on TV.So the nutrition mentality has changed a lot in all over the world and Katarina just told her working conditions frankly .She did not give this as an example to be copied of..Besides today's teenagers and their trainers are so conscious that they will only take the parts that will be helpful to them from this book they are aware of what's good or what's bad..

On this book I reccomend to the readers that when you read for example Olympics part from the book ,it will be more fun to read the Olympic parts and after to watch Katarina's that show on youtube ..

Thanks a lot to AMAZON for providing this book !!

NIL
One person found this helpful
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Ruth C. Hunsinger
5.0 out of 5 stars Enlightening!
Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2016
Verified Purchase
Very honest.
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TabVal
3.0 out of 5 stars Great Insight- But Slightly Off
Reviewed in the United States on May 25, 2013
Verified Purchase
I loved reading about Katarina Witt and her pursuit of skating. It is definitely inspiring to me. However, I did not like her mode of telling her story. It was told to a 16 year old FICTIONAL character which made me feel that it was fake at times. I would have rather read her bio than that.
2 people found this helpful
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Mic
1.0 out of 5 stars Very Boring
Reviewed in the United States on October 5, 2022
I was initially very interested to read Katarina's story. However right off the bat the imaginary person Jasmine, who is a composite of several people she knows; made me dislike the books direction. Thus, I quickly lost interest and will not be finishing the book.
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fruitloop
5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting debate about pursuing dreams
Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2016
Katarina takes us along for the ride as she mentors another talented, youthful championship-level German skater who is unsure of what path her career and personal life should take. She shares her experiences as a competitor, a teen and a woman and the lessons she learned along the way. Katarina's message to the skater - and her readers - is to decide what your dream is, then let your choice guide your path in life with all your inner passion and no room for regret. Give all that's within you, and you can't be disappointed even if you don't fully succeed. It's a worthwhile message for all of us.

This book is NOT a biography, so readers who pick up this book with that expectation may be disappointed. Still, Katarina does share reminiscences about why and how she began skating, how her training progressed, and what it was like to compete under the former East German political regime. She pursued her skating career with all that was within her - with passion.

It's a delightful and inspiring book for young athletes, especially skaters, to read. Katarina's fans will enjoy this deeply introspective work, since she experienced and wrote it at a time when she was preparing to retire from professional skating. Whatever the future holds for Katarina, we can be certain that she'll pursue her destiny as she did when she competed - always, always with passion.
2 people found this helpful
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X O X O
3.0 out of 5 stars For the skater in your life
Reviewed in the United States on March 13, 2016
Verified Purchase
Wish there were more photos of beautiful Katarina in this book. A light read.
One person found this helpful
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fruitloop
5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting debate about pursuing dreams
Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2016
Katarina takes us along for the ride as she mentors another talented, youthful championship-level German skater who is unsure of what path her career and personal life should take. She shares her experiences as a competitor, a teen and a woman and the lessons she learned along the way. Katarina's message to the skater - and her readers - is to decide what your dream is, then let your choice guide your path in life with all your inner passion and no room for regret. Give all that's within you, and you can't be disappointed even if you don't fully succeed. It's a worthwhile message for all of us.

This book is NOT a biography, so readers who pick up this book with that expectation may be disappointed. Still, Katarina does share reminiscences about why and how she began skating, how her training progressed, and what it was like to compete under the former East German political regime. She pursued her skating career with all that was within her - with passion.

It's a delightful and inspiring book for young athletes, especially skaters, to read. Katarina's fans will enjoy this deeply introspective work, since she experienced and wrote it at a time when she was preparing to retire from professional skating. Whatever the future holds for Katarina, we can be certain that she'll pursue her destiny as she did when she competed - always, always with passion.
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Client d'Amazon
4.0 out of 5 stars Perfect
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 8, 2022
Verified Purchase
Thank you
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M. Ronald Jewell
3.0 out of 5 stars Nice read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 28, 2014
Verified Purchase
This is geared for the teen skating fans and this legend has a history that she didn't reveal it all, sadly, rather Disneyesque for me, I would have rather read the grueling hard years of training and dedication and the details in the stasi files....a tell all but this should interest anyone who skates and is too young to hear the details!!!!
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book worm
4.0 out of 5 stars delivery on time
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 27, 2020
Verified Purchase
Great story of an iconic sportswoman, who captured our heart's and minds.
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morgan1
2.0 out of 5 stars just okay
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 19, 2012
Verified Purchase
book not that interesting!
thought that i would learn more about the famous skater but really just a short book on how she felt about big events in her life. wish it had gone into kore detail of her childhood, training, life and events.
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