Kati and Jutta, performed by Lavinia Nowak and Dagmar Menzel
Photo: ZDF
Of course, we also bought Katarina Witt’s autobiography. Of course, “My Years Between Compulsory and Freestyle” wasn’t the right reading for our eleven-year-old ice princess, who, like her sports friends at Dynamo Berlin, adored “Kati” from Karl-Marx-Stadt as they wanted to win Olympic gold one day. Didn’t succeed despite talent and hard work. Because of West German ignorance and arrogance. The sports facility, which was once decried as the “Mielke empire” by the new masters in the country, was punished (for whatever reason), funds were cut, coaches with world renown were fired or appointed to ABM positions (in all sports); some found grateful employment abroad. For example, our son’s gymnastics coach took over the Irish national team. In any case, SC Berlin was no longer a medal factory from then on.
Katarina Witt’s memoirs were published in 1994, the year she wanted to know again. The two-time Olympic champion, multiple European and world champion decides to compete at the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer. A new feature film, broadcast by ZDF on Unity Day, is a reminder of this. Five years earlier, “Kati” (Lavinia Nowak) said goodbye to competitive sports. The 27-year-old goes to see her old trainer. Jutta Müller (Dagmar Menzel) is initially not enthusiastic.
The opening scene shows both of them feeling anxious: the elevator in the hotel is stuck. Katarina Witt: “If they screw this up for us now, I’ll call Gorbachev personally to complain.” Jutta Müller: “You mean Helmut Kohl?” – “I don’t have his number.”
Will they make it to the ice rink in time? Of course, we know. Millions of East and West Germans are feverishly glued to the screens for “our Kati”. She comes seventh. Disappointment can be seen on the faces of Katarina Wirt and Jutta Müller. Ten years younger are the competitors who string triple jumps like pearls on a necklace, including the triple Axel. They don’t appear in the film. That’s a good thing, because it’s a triumph for the Witt/Müller team. Standing ovations from the international audience in the stadium. The next day, German newspapers headlined: “Kati, you’ll get gold from us.” Two weeks earlier they served up Stasi stories. Which of course unsettles the athlete and leads to a violent argument between her and the trainer.
“Kati” has now gone to the Gauck authorities, even though she didn’t want to and a sports friend (pairs skating) advised her against it. 27 file folders, 3031 pages, code name “Flop”. Observed since she was seven years old. “They even knew the names of my stuffed animals,” she tells her trainer. And: »You destroyed my first love. You spied on me.” Jutta Müller replies: “We protected you.” Similar are the answers from Egon Krenz, whom she asks for an explanation and apology during a walk in the forest. “Man Egon, you betrayed and sold me.” – “Man, you were the first to be allowed to run as a professional in the USA.”
“Kati” knows what she owes to the GDR. Never deny this either. Nor the privileges she enjoyed. Holiday On Ice. And a famous American actor as a friend. This love also breaks. Not like her first experience at the age of 20 in the GDR with a drummer who was viewed by trainers and sports officials as not being right for their golden girl. This time it is the strict discipline that she imposes on herself to achieve her ambitious goal in Lillehammer, to show the world again. But especially those who insult her as a “SED goat” or “Honecker’s princess.” What do they know? “Kati” knows what she owes to Jutta Müller and will not let the German Ice Skating Union appoint a new coach.
Of course, it was primarily their successes. Hard earned through hard training. Carefree childhood? Yes and no. But it was actually the social conditions that catapulted her and many other athletes to the top of the world. Support from an early age, regardless of the parents’ budget. Unfortunately, there are no statements about this in the ZDF film. The fact that the small state of the GDR liked to adorn itself with world records, well. The enthusiasm for sports among its citizens was real.
Nowak/Manzel are convincing in their roles. Seemingly eternally childish disposition, always smiling, cheerful, almost naive in one, serious, dutiful, often grumpy and seemingly ice-cold in the other. Thankfully, the Saxon dialect is not overused (unlike in films, where Saxon is often misused to demonstrate East German). Above all, there is no ideology. The fact that “Kati” chose “Tell me where the flowers are” for Lillehammer, once legendary intoned by Marlene Dietrich, had to do with GDR influences. Half a century after the global conflagration unleashed by Nazi Germany, war was raging in Europe again. In Yugoslavia. The ice rink in Sarajevo, where “Kati” won gold in 1987, now served as a mortuary. Five years later, the Federal Republic of Germany took part in the NATO bombing of Serbia.
“Kati – A freestyle that stays”, ZDF, October 3rd, 8:15 p.m
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