1999 World Championships

March 21-28, 1999, Helsinki/FIN

Reports

Kati and Rene are 7th in the World!

Kati Winkler/Rene Lohse proved again their talent and class at the World Championships in Helsinki. They stayed in 7th place after the OD and Free Dance in a competition on an extraordinary high level. Their charming waltz "L'homme de Paris" was a real crowd pleaser. The marks ranged from 5,3 to 5,4 (A) and from 5,3 up to 5,5 (B). All judges had the Germans 7th. Both skaters were very pleased with their performance.

Their innovative free dance was one of the highlights of the dance competition. The dance, set to East Asian drums and music, was eyecatching right away. Especially the step sequence was skated very close together. "Our coach Martin Skotnicky said it was the best free dance this season", a delighted Kati Winkler said after the performance. The dancers got marks as high as 5,5 for technical and up to 5,6 for artistic. Two judges (RUS and UKR) had them 8th, everyone else 7th.

The good result motivates the couple to keep going. Kati is already looking forward to the new Rhythmic Dance that will replace the OD next season. For next season, Latin American Rhythms have been chosen. "This is exactly what I like", Kati explained.


Winkler/Lohse 7th after the compulsories

Kati Winkler/Rene Lohse placed 7th in both compulsories (Paso Doble and Tango Romantica) on Tuesday, March 23rd in Helsinki. Both dances looked crisp, had speed and flow. "I was more nervous in the Tango, maybe because the break between both dances was quite short", Kati said. "We hope to stay in 7th, this is our goal."
"We skated without any major mistakes, it was a good performance", Rene added. "I felt more confident and relaxed in the Paso Doble. I didn't have any big expectations, but when we skated well, I wanted to repeat it in the second dance and therefore I got a bit nervous."
The Germans will skate first in the next to last flight for the Original Dance (starting number 22).

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