A cool cast

Katarina Witt is a four-time world-champion figure skater. She's the first in her sport since 1936 to win back-to-back Olympic gold medals, capturing the prizes at Sarajevo in 1984 and Calgary in 1988. In 1999, the Associated Press named her the No. 1 Living Female Winter Olympic Athlete of the Century. But despite all the on-ice accolades, the stunning German might be better known for what she did without wearing skates - or anything else.

Witt posed nude for Playboy magazine in 1998, and the pictorial may have shifted some of the world's focus away from her skating prowess and toward other aspects of her persona. And that's fine with the 36-year-old.

"There's nothing to be ashamed of," says Witt, speaking from New York City. "Just the way it was done helped. I have no problem talking about it. They asked me after the Olympics in '88. It would have been too soon really. I felt I am in a position where I can take the risk. I wanted to be a little more provocative and at the same time didn't want to offend anyone."

That balance was struck by maintaining artistic control of the photo shoot, says Witt, who'll perform with "Target Stars on Ice" Wednesday night at the First Union Arena.

"I just wanted to do it in a very pure and natural way," says Witt, whose German accent is still prevalent. "Figure skating is very much a family-oriented sport. I think the biggest compliment for me was a lot of women came up to me and said they really liked it."

Witt says Americans generally had a harder time accepting the photos than Europeans.

"Of course, Europe is more open to nudity in general," Witt says. "I don't think there's anything bad about it, but they should be a little more conscious of it. I feel in Europe it's getting too much. I do think they are too uptight here as well. You see 10 people being killed and blood everywhere (in a movie), but they wouldn't show bare chests. There's something wrong there."

The attention paid to this figure skater's figure wasn't limited to her Playboy appearance. Before that, People Magazine named her one of the "50 Most Beautiful People in the World."

"It's a really nice compliment," Witt says. "The minute you're voted for it, you go, 'Oh my God, yeah, that's what they do for publicity.' And the minute you're not part of it, you're like 'What? Why?' " she says laughing.

After a four-year hiatus from the tour, Witt is back with "Target Stars on Ice." Other featured skaters are fellow Olympic champions Tara Lipinski, Kristi Yamaguchi and Ilia Kulik, as well as Kurt Browning, Anjelika Krylova, Oleg Ovsiannikov, Jenni Meno, Todd Sand, Steven Cousins, Denis Petrov and Lucinda Ruh.

This edition of "Stars on Ice" is designed to explore themes of inspiration, dedication and the challenges of stardom. The show is marketed as a spectacle of sight and sound, with set designs, music and costumes playing major roles. The crew begins each performance day at 7 a.m. when it starts to load in, rig and set up 200,000 pounds of equipment from the show's three trucks. The company also travels with a tunnel through which the skaters enter and exit the ice. Assembled each day from pipes and draping, the tunnel provides skaters room to warm up, unseen by the audience.

"It's been great, actually," Witt says of her return to the tour. "I've been really enjoying it. But honestly I forgot how much traveling it involves. On the other hand, it's so wonderful to spend the time doing what you love most with people you like. And of course, the show is just incredible. 'Stars on Ice' is just the best show out there."

Skating has been a springboard to stardom for Witt. She's won an Emmy for HBO's "Carmen on Ice," produces NBC's "Divas on Ice" specials, has appeared in the Tom Cruise film "Jerry Maguire," wrote a fitness book and has a jewelry line.

It's been one surprise after the other for Witt, who began skating at 5 and never dreamed of becoming a household name.

"Never ever," she says. "When I got into the sport it was purely, 'What is that? Lets try it.' I enjoyed it from the first minute. It was always just sport for me and competition and collecting medals and becoming Olympic champion. I definitely didn't have a normal childhood. But I don't miss it at all because I got to experience so many wonderful things."

Witt understands that the public perception of her profession goes beyond pure sport. The Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan fiasco in 1994 and the judging scandal in this year's Winter Games can have positive effects, though, she says.

"It keeps it interesting," Witt explains. "They just tune into it to see what's going on. Then people just saw it's a beautiful sport. It's not something good for the sport. But it definitely keeps the interest."

The in-fighting, like that between Harding and Kerrigan, is the exception to the rule, even on the competitive circuits, says "Stars on Ice" Tour Director Byron Allen.

"In skating, you're competing against yourself," Allen says. "You can only do the best you can. Somebody else is judging you. In tennis, you beat someone, and in golf you play against the course. So (the skaters) are more friendly. In that case, the skaters are at the mercy of the judges. Now, they're working together to put together a product like Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick in 'The Producers.' "

"That is the important part of figure skating; these girls are all friends," says "Stars" Publicist Todd Fraser. "When they go out and compete, they are rivals. But now most get along really well. They are on tour five months at a time together. It's a traveling family."

For now, Witt is enjoying her time back on the "Stars" tour. She says she has some other plans in the works but didn't want to "jinx them" by revealing them publicly.

"Right now my love is still skating," she says. "I'm still enjoying it. I am totally surprised I still love being out there in front of the audience."

And if that audience would rather focus on her looks than her skating ability, so be it.