Kati Winkler (born 16 January 1974) is a German former competitive ice dancer. With partner

René Lohse René Lohse, married Sachtler-Lohse (born 23 September 1973) is a German former competitive ice dancer. With partner Kati Winkler, he is the 2004 World bronze medalist and a six-time German national champion. They competed at two Winter Olymp ...

, she is the 2004 World bronze medalist and a six-time German national champion. They competed at two Winter Olympics, in 1998 and 2002.

Personal life

Kati Winkler was born in Karl-Marx-Stadt (now Chemnitz) to Bernd Winkler and Christina Schmerbach and has a sister. She is a skilled clerk.

Career

Winkler started skating at the age of four after being selected for the sport in kindergarten. At first she was a single skater and was coached by Peter Meyer. While still a single skater she moved to Berlin in 1985 and was coached by Jürgen Bertko there. A back problem hampered her jumping ability so at the age of 14, she decided to take up ice dancing and asked Lohse to be her partner. They were the first East German ice dancers in years, the discipline having disappeared over the previous 18 years. Until 1996 they were coached by

Knut Schubert Knut Schubert (born 9 September 1958 in Bautzen, East Germany) is a former East German pair skater. With his sister, Katja Schubert, he won the bronze medal at the 1974 East German Figure Skating Championships. They went on to finish ninth at ...

whose expertise was more in

pair skating Pair skating is a figure skating discipline defined by the International Skating Union (ISU) as "the skating of two persons in unison who perform their movements in such harmony with each other as to give the impression of genuine Pair Skating a ...

. In 1996 they moved to

Oberstdorf Oberstdorf ( Low Alemannic: ''Oberschdorf'') is a municipality and skiing and hiking town in Germany, located in the Allgäu region of the Bavarian Alps. It is the southernmost settlement in Germany and one of its highest towns. At the&nb ...

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

and changed their coach to Martin Skotnicky. However Winkler/Lohse always skated for the club SC Berlin (earlier SC Dynamo Berlin). They were both sergeants in the German Army's sports division, which sponsored their skating. In 2000-01, Winkler and Lohse became the first German ice dance team to qualify for the Grand Prix Final, where they finished fifth. They missed most of the 2001-02 season after Lohse fell in practice at the 2001 Sparkassen Cup, injuring the meniscus and ligaments in his knee. They returned in time for the Olympics where they finished 8th. In the summer of 2002, Lohse collided with a truck while he was riding his bike in

, "I went over the handlebars and fell on my shoulder. The bone was sticking up straight through my shoulder where I cut three ligaments." He recovered in time for them to compete in a pair of Grand Prix events and qualify for the Grand Prix Final. However, they were unable to compete in the Final because Winkler had influenza and Lohse a muscle injury in his leg. They missed the 2003 World Championships due to injury and also the 2004 European Championships after Lohse reinjured his knee ligaments a few days prior to the event. They recovered in time for the 2004 World Championships where they won the bronze medal. This was the greatest German success in ice dancing since 1973, the time of

Angelika Buck Angelika Buck (born 9 June 1950) is a German former ice dancer who competed for West Germany. With her brother Erich Buck, she is the 1972 European champion, a four-time World medalist, and a six-time West German national champion. Career Ang ...

Erich Buck Erich Buck (born 5 January 1949) is a German former ice dancer who competed for West Germany. With his sister Angelika Buck, he is the 1972 European champion, a four-time World medalist, and a six-time West German national champion. Career ...

. They retired from competition after the event. Winkler worked as a choreographer for

Christina Beier Christina Beier (born June 9, 1984 in Manila, Philippines) is a Filipino born German former competitive ice dancer. She competed with her brother William Beier. She briefly stopped competing with her brother and competed with partner Tim Giesen ...

and William Beier, the German champions in ice dancing. Winkler and Lohse skated in ice shows following the end of their competitive career.

Programs

(With Lohse)

Results

(ice dance with

)

References

External links

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Homepage

{{DEFAULTSORT:Winkler, Kati 1974 births Living people German female ice dancers Figure skaters at the 1998 Winter Olympics Figure skaters at the 2002 Winter Olympics Olympic figure skaters of Germany Sportspeople from Chemnitz World Figure Skating Championships medalists