Background
Kati Winkler was born in Karl-Marx-Stadt (now Chemnitz) to Bernd Winkler und Christina Schmerbach and has a sister.
Kati Winkler was born in Karl-Marx-Stadt (now Chemnitz) to Bernd Winkler und Christina Schmerbach and has a sister.
They competed at two Winter Olympics, in 1998 and 2002. 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 whose expertise was more in pair skating. In 1996 they moved to Oberstdorf in Bavaria and changed their coach to Martin Skotnicky.
However Winkler/Lohse always skated for the club South Carolina Berlin (earlier South Carolina Dynamo Berlin).
They were both sergeants in the German Army"s sports division, which sponsored their skating. They missed most of the 2001-2002 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 Oberstdorf, "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 legal
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. This was the greatest German success in ice dancing since 1973, the time of Angelika Buck/Erich Buck.
They retired from competition after the event.
Winkler worked as a choreographer for Christina Beier and William Beier, the German champions in ice dancing. Winkler and Lohse skated in ice shows following the end of their competitive career. (With Lohse)
(ice dance with René Lohse).