E. German Olympian Witt Defends Pay for Athletes : Salaries: ‘If you do something special you deserve to get something easier,’ skating star says.

Katarina Witt, East Germany’s best-known athlete, today defended her country’s sports program policy of paying athletes for top performances.

“We get money, the East German money,” Witt, two-time Olympic figure skating champion, said on NBC’s “Today” show. “But it wasn’t that much as people are telling. I think that’s OK because we did something special and we deserve it.

“Because if a worker is good in a factory they get money for this, too. We get paid for this, but not like the professional athletes. It’s a big difference between this.”

Tuesday, all the senior members of East Germany’s national sports authority resigned under pressure following disclosures that athletes were paid for performances and sports officials enjoyed privileges unavailable to the masses. East German political leaders are calling for a shift in emphasis for elite athletes to a system that better serves all sports.

“I don’t like the word privilege,” Witt said. “If you do something special, you deserve to get something easier. It’s true they have to wait for a car 10 or 12 years. To help us, they gave us a car. I mean we had to pay for it. It wasn’t a present, but we just got it earlier.

“It’s like your kind of country (the United States). If somebody is special, they get the things easier. A lot of people are pointing fingers at athletes now, but I don’t think that’s right.”

Witt, 24, now appearing in ice shows in North America and Western Europe, said most East German athletes she has talked with are confused about the state of sporting affairs.

“I don’t know what’s happened with the organization,” Witt said. “The athletes . . . don’t know if there’s going to be support for the future or not. It isn’t easy for the athletes at this moment.”

Witt doesn’t understand those critical of the East German program.

“On one hand, they admire us and say that it’s great what you do and we hope it goes well for you in the future,” she said. “But then they say it’s not fair that you get some things easier. For me it was normal.”