Only With Passion: Figure Skating's Most Winning Champion on Competition and Life [Bargain Price] [Paperback]

Katarina Witt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 29, 2007

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.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: PublicAffairs (January 29, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1586484273
• ASIN: B00127OGKU
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,271,036 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #88 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Winter Sports > Ice Skating & Figure Skating

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Sadly boring., November 30, 2005

By 

Melissa Garland "melissag915" (O'Fallon, MO United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Only With Passion: Figure Skating's Most Winning Champion on Competition and Life (Hardcover)

Always projected as a fascinating ice princess, I was hoping for something more interesting. Very little in terms of an intimate portrait and advice on becoming a champion skater.

Christine Brennan did a better job capturing intimate glimpses of Witt in a few pages in "Inside Edge" compared to this entire book. I wanted to read more about growing up in GDR, how her friendship with Roz Summers developed, the controversy of the government spying on her, more biographical information about HER and her skating. The impression given is that she was a machine told what to do and she did it - including this book. True skate fans, skip this one.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars What a bore, December 19, 2005

By 

Tina Avon - See all my reviews

This review is from: Only With Passion: Figure Skating's Most Winning Champion on Competition and Life (Hardcover)

I am a big figure skating fan. I have read every skating book out there.

I thought Katarina's story would be interesting. While not my favorite skater, her background would certainly be worth the read.

I was wrong. For one thing, this book seems to be set up in a way where Katarina is giving advice to a fictious up and coming skating star. Never quite sure if this girl actually exists or not.

Also, this book is preachy and....boring, boring, boring.

Where are the great skating stories, the background info on skating in Germany?

What about Katarina's fears and thoughts on life in general.

None of this in this book.

Skate right by this one.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars FOR RABID FIGURE SKATING FANS ONLY..., October 30, 2005

By 

Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Only With Passion: Figure Skating's Most Winning Champion on Competition and Life (Hardcover)

This book contains the musings of Olympian figure skater, Katerina Witt, who has won gold medals in two consecutive Olympics, four world championships, and eight national championships. She ruminates on the rigors of athletic competition and on the life lessons she has learned along the way. Turning forty years old this December, she offers some fairly general advice to the young on what it takes to be a top athlete. She does so from the perspective of what she has discovered in her own quest to be the best.

There is very little that is truly intimate about this book, as it is, for the most part, quite banal, although Ms. Witt does offer some relatively minor revelations about her life. Still, the tone throughout the book remains remote and dispassionate, notwithstanding the title of the book. There is some commentary about other figure skating greats but nothing the least bit controversial or eyebrow raising. It is clear that Ms. Witt reserves her passion for the ice, as there is none infused in this somewhat tepid book. Only those who are rabid fans of figure skating will get a modicum of enjoyment from this book.