Ice Skating: Grace and fervour highlight comeback

Attired in a Robin Hood outfit, Katarina Witt, the former East German skater who was making a return to competition after six years, glides her way to a near-perfect technical programme at the German National Championships in Herne, Ruhr, yesterday. Witt, who won her two Olympic gold medals at Sarajevo in 1984, goes into today's deciding free programme lying second to Tanja Szewczenko. Eight of the nine judges gave it to the 16-year-old, who is favourite to win the free section. Marina Kielmann, the champion who is lying in third place, is another contender for one of the two women's places allotted to Germany at the Winter Games in Norway next February. With Witt, who has picked up No 16 in the draw and whose range of triples is limited, taking the ice immediately ahead of Szewczenko, it is Kielmann who finds herself enjoying a distinct advantage by being able to follow the pair.

(Photograph omitted)