Mandy Wötzel

Mandy Wötzel

Mandy Wötzel with Axel Rauschenbach, 1988
Personal information
Full name	Mandy Wötzel
Country represented	Germany  East Germany
Born	21 July 1973 (1973-07-21) (age 38) Chemnitz
Height	150 cm (4.9 ft)
Former partner	Ingo Steuer Axel Rauschenbach
Skating club	Eislaufverein Chemnitz
Retired	1998
Medal record Competitor for  Germany Pairs' Figure skating Olympic Games Bronze 1998 Nagano Pairs World Championships Gold 1997 Lausanne Pairs Silver 1996 Edmonton Pairs Silver 1993 Prague Pairs European Championships Silver 1997 Paris Pairs Silver 1996 Sofia Pairs Gold 1995 Dortmund Pairs Silver 1993 Helsinki Pairs Grand Prix Final Silver 1997–1998 Tokyo Pairs Gold 1996–1997 Hamilton Pairs Bronze 1995–1996 Paris Pairs Competitor for  East Germany European Championships Silver 1989 Birmingham Pairs

Olympic medal record
Figure Skating
Bronze	1998 Nagano	Pairs

Mandy Wötzel (born 21 July 1973) is a German pair skater who represented East Germany and later Germany in international competition. With partner Ingo Steuer, she is the 1998 Olympic bronze medalist.

Biography

Wötzel was born in Karl-Marx-Stadt (Chemnitz), Saxony, then part of East Germany, and began skating as a child. She skated for the club SC Karl-Marx-Stadt, which was renamed after the German reunification into SC Chemnitz. Her first partner was Axel Rauschenbach. The pair won the silver medal at the 1989 European Figure Skating Championships. They competed together at the 1992 Winter Olympics. In 1992, Wötzel suffered a serious accident during practice, leaving her in a coma for a short time. Soon afterwards, she and Rauschenbach stopped skating together.

Wötzel swiftly found a new partner in Ingo Steuer. After less than a year together, they won the silver medal at the 1993 European Figure Skating Championships and the World Figure Skating Championships.

She had a bad fall at the 1994 Winter Olympics. Halfway through the long program, skating to the music from Basic Instinct, Wötzel tripped over her toe pick and fell to the ice, cutting her chin. Steuer carried her off the ice. The pair was forced to withdraw from the competition and Wötzel had to have stitches. They successfully skated the same program at the World Championships one month later, and finished fourth. In a humorous touch, after the program, Steuer carried Wötzel off the ice just as he had at the Olympics.

Wötzel and Steuer continued to skate successfully over the next few years, and won a European championship in 1995. At the 1997 World Championships in Lausanne, Switzerland, they won their first World title. Steuer badly injured his shoulder when a passing car's side window hit him as he was riding on his motorcycle in Chemnitz before the 1998 Olympics. Wötzel underwent knee surgery in 1997. Despite these handicaps, they performed two solid programs with no major mistakes. They won the bronze medal. The pair retired after the 1998 Olympics and skated in shows and professional events.

In a 2006 interview, Wötzel said that their partnership was "hell" and she felt anxiety at the sight of Steuer.^[1]

In autumn 2006 Mandy Wötzel participated in the TV-show Dancing on Ice on the German channel RTL. Her partner there was boxer Sven Ottke.

Mandy Wötzel married in 2007, and moved the same year to Australia with her Australian husband.

In 2008, Mandy Wötzel started teaching at the Olympic Ice Rink in Oakleigh, Melbourne.

Competitive highlights

(with Ingo Steuer)

Event	1992-93	1993-94	1994-95	1995-96	1996-97	1997-98
Winter Olympic Games		WD				3rd
World Championships	2nd	4th	5th	2nd	1st
European Championships	2nd	5th	1st	2nd	2nd
German Championships	1st		1st	1st	1st
Grand Prix Final				3rd	1st	2nd
Skate Canada International	1st				1st
Trophée Lalique			3rd			2nd
Cup of Russia					1st
NHK Trophy			3rd	2nd
Nations Cup	1st	2nd	1st	2nd	1st	1st

• WD = Withdrew

(with Axel Rauschenbach)

Event	1987-88	1988-89	1989-90	1990-91	1991-92
Winter Olympic Games					8th
World Championships	8th		7th
European Championships	5th	2nd		5th
German Championships				1st	2nd
East German Championships	2nd	1st	1st
Skate America				3rd
Trophée de France		2nd	1st

References

1. ^ "Angstgefühle beim Anblick Steuers [Anxiety at the sight of Steuer]" (in German). focus.de. March 1, 2006. http://www.focus.de/sport/wintersport/mandy-woetzel_aid_105619.html. Retrieved October 25, 2010. 

• Sports-reference

Persondata
Name	Wötzel,Mandy
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	21 July 1973
Place of birth	Chemnitz
Date of death
Place of death