Mandy Wötzel

Wötzel in 1990
Personal information
Born	(1973-07-21)21 July 1973 (age 52) Karl-Marx-Stadt, East Germany
Height	1.50 m (4 ft 11 in)[1]
Figure skating career
Country	Germany East Germany
Skating club	Eislaufverein Chemnitz
Retired	1998
Medal record Representing Germany Figure skating:Pairs Olympic Games 1998 Nagano Pairs World Championships 1997 Lausanne Pairs 1993 Prague Pairs 1996 Edmonton Pairs European Championships 1995 Dortmund Pairs 1993 Helsinki Pairs 1996 Sofia Pairs 1997 Paris Pairs Grand Prix Final 1996–97 Hamilton Pairs 1997–98 Tokyo Pairs 1995–96 Paris Pairs Representing East Germany European Championships 1989 Birmingham Pairs

Mandy Wötzel (born 21 July 1973) is a German formerpair skater who representedEast Germany and laterGermany in international competition. With partnerIngo Steuer, she is the1998 Olympic bronze medalist, the1997 World champion, the1995 European champion, and a four-timeGerman national champion.

Mandy Wötzel was born 21 July 1973 inKarl-Marx-Stadt (Chemnitz),Saxony,East Germany. She married an Australian in 2007 and moved the same year toAustralia.

Wötzel began skating as a child. She skated for the club SC Karl-Marx-Stadt, which was renamed to SC Chemnitz afterGerman reunification. Her first partner wasAxel Rauschenbach. The pair won the silver medal at the1989 European Championships. Rauschenbach's skate blade struck Wötzel's head in 1989 while they were performing side-by-sidecamel spins.^[2][3][4] She was in hospital for three months and missed half a year of school.^[2][3] Wötzel and Rauschenbach competed at the1992 Winter Olympics, where they finished 8th. Following the season, Rauschenbach ended their partnership to work at a bank.^[3]

Ingo Steuer, who had been without a partner during 1991–1992 season, trained at the same rink as Wötzel, and under the same coach, Monika Scheibe.^[3] Scheibe initially hesitated to put Wötzel and Steuer together due to doubts about whether their personalities would work well together but she was persuaded after seeing their tryout.^[3] After less than a year together, Wötzel/Steuer won the silver medal at the1993 European Championships and the1993 World Championships. Both were accepted into thesports division of theGerman army, supporting athletes.^[3]

Wötzel and Steuer had a few accidents during their career. She knocked him out with her elbow while practicing thetwist lift and he broke her nose while practicing another lift.^[3][4] During the long program at the1994 Winter Olympics, Wötzel tripped on a rut and fell to the ice, cutting her chin.^[2] Steuer carried her off the ice.^[3] The pair was forced to withdraw from the competition and Wötzel had to have stitches. They skated at the1994 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.^[3]

Wötzel/Steuer won the1995 European Championships and the1997 World Championships inLausanne,Switzerland. Steuer underwent his fifth or sixth knee surgery in mid-1997.^[3] On 8 December 1997, a passing car's side window hit Steuer's arm, partly tearing ligaments in his right shoulder.^[2][5] Pain radiated to his neck and face and caused headaches but he continued to skate.^[3][2] Wötzel/Steuer won the silver medal at theChampions Series Final, held 19–20 December 1997 inMunich, Germany. When he caught her during a tripletwist in the long program, Steuer felt a sharp pain that extended to his head.^[2] They stayed off the ice for the following three weeks.^[2] Wötzel/Steuer missed the1998 European Championships as a result but returned in time for the1998 Winter Olympics inNagano, Japan, where they won the bronze medal. They then retired from competition 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.^[6]

In autumn 2006, Wötzel participated in the TV showDancing on Ice on the German channelRTL, partnered with boxerSven Ottke.

Wötzel works as a skating coach in Australia. She started teaching at the Olympic Ice Rink in Oakleigh, Melbourne in 2008.

GP:Champions Series (Grand Prix)

• 1973 births
• Living people
• Figure skaters from Chemnitz
• German female pair skaters
• World Figure Skating Championships medalists
• European Figure Skating Championships medalists
• Figure skaters at the 1992 Winter Olympics
• Figure skaters at the 1994 Winter Olympics
• Figure skaters at the 1998 Winter Olympics
• Medalists at the 1998 Winter Olympics
• Olympic bronze medalists for Germany
• Olympic figure skaters for Germany
• Olympic medalists in figure skating
• Recipients of the Silver Laurel Leaf
• Sportspeople from Bezirk Karl-Marx-Stadt
• German figure skating coaches
• German emigrants to Australia
• East German female figure skaters
• SC Karl-Marx-Stadt sportspeople

• CS1 German-language sources (de)
• Use dmy dates from April 2023
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata