Speed skater Claudia Pechstein has qualified for the Winter Olympics for the eighth time at the age of 49. A record. In the interview she talks about her successes and a wound that doesn’t want to heal.
When you think of the Winter Olympics, you automatically associate one name with it: Claudia Pechstein. In 1992 in Albertville she was there for the first time. Now, 30 years later, the 49-year-old is starting again in Beijing. It’s Pechstein’s eighth game – a record. She was the first woman in the world to do that.
She won gold five times, and Pechstein has collected a total of nine Olympic medals. With what goals is she now traveling to China? Will it be your last Olympics? In the t-online interview, the 49-year-old answers the most pressing questions.
t-online: Ms. Pechstein, you have qualified for the Olympic Games for the eighth time. How does it feel to have made history?
Claudia Pechstein: I only wrote the story when I’m at the start in Beijing. In the Corona times you always have to stay negative, that’s the crucial thing at the moment. But of course I’m very proud that the DOSB nominated me for the Olympic Games. It’s something sensational that I can write history with it. I don’t feel any better or worse about it now – I’m still Claudia Pechstein.
Attacks at the Olympics for the eighth time: Claudia Pechstein. (Source: Laci Perenyi/imago images)
Could you have imagined taking part in the Olympics again at the age of 49?
That’s something special. But everyone also knows about the situation that the Olympic Games in Vancouver were stolen from me. What is certain is that my life would probably have been different then. What makes me happy is that I get so much respect for my achievements internationally in the speed skating circuit because I’m still competitive. I am very proud to be able to take part in the Olympics again at the age of 49.
How concerned are you with the doping allegations and the associated cancellation of Vancouver?
I have been wrongly convicted. Of course that bothers me. It’s an injustice and everyone knows it: the officials, the IOC President Thomas Bach. We sat together in the DOSB office when he was still head of the DOSB, and everyone agreed that that was a misjudgment. I still get angry about it to this day.
But if it hadn’t been for this case, I wouldn’t have met my partner, my life improved by 100 percent. I’m still fighting for my rights, symbolically according to the motto: win or die. I have never done anything wrong, i.e. never doped or used an illegal method.
Nobody who has seriously looked at my blood values can accuse me of doping. The fluctuations are caused by an anomaly that I inherited from my father. There is a clear medical diagnosis about this. I’m amazed myself that 13 years later I still have to deal with this misjudgment. That doesn’t make it any easier. But it’s all the nicer that I’ve made it back to the Olympics, although many didn’t think I was capable of it.
You yourself once said “nothing tastes as sweet as Olympic gold”. What are your ambitions when you travel to Beijing? Is it enough for a surprise medal in the end?
Sure, the Olympics are good for surprises. But I’m a realist and I said quite a while ago that I’m no longer fighting for a medal. I no longer have any pressure to perform, I really want to enjoy the Olympic Games. I don’t have to prove anything to anyone anymore and just want to have fun. Although Corona and the associated measures will be different than before. As motivation, I take all the congratulations from all over the world that have reached me.
2002 in Salt Lake City: Olympic champion Claudia Pechstein proudly shows off her gold medal. (Source: Sven Simon/imago images)
You are repeatedly mentioned as a possible German flag bearer. What would that mean for you?
I’ve been shortlisted before. That would of course be a huge honor and I would love to do that. But I don’t bring myself into the conversation, I answer the journalists when they ask me about it. That’s why I can say quite frankly: As Germany’s most successful Winter Olympian and the only woman to have taken part in eight Winter Games, that might be a good fit. So there are reasons that could speak for it, but the decision is not mine, it is up to the DOSB.
Are the Beijing games your last? Or will your ambition remain so great that you would like to attack again in Milan 2026 at the age of almost 54?
Right now I can’t imagine that my career should be over after the Olympics. It’s very strange, because sport is my life. I started ice skating when I was three and a half years old, I love it, it’s my passion. We can talk about it after Beijing (laughs).
Corona, the question of a lack of human rights in China, the many environmental problems surrounding the construction of sports facilities in Beijing: how much do you deal with these issues before you leave?
The first thing I would change is that athletes should have a say in the awarding of the Olympic Games. The athletes simply have the better experience and know what ultimately characterizes winter sports. Beijing is not a real winter sports resort, especially because the 2018 summer games took place there.
We know about these issues that keep coming up, such as the construction of sports facilities and the lack of sustainability. But in the end I don’t decide where the games take place. There is an IOC and its officials determine who gets the games. I really wish they would let us athletes have a say.
Almost always at the front: Pechstein is one of the most successful winter athletes. (Source: Sven Simon/imago images)
Do you think athletes should take part in protests during the Games? Or do you have to clearly separate sport and politics?
Sport and politics cannot be separated. Mr. Bach’s statement that the IOC has nothing to do with politics was a bit strange to me. Every athlete can represent their point of view, everyone has to decide for themselves. I’m going to the Olympics because I’m an athlete and I want to show off my sporting achievements.
How did you perceive the debates about the FC Bayern players who, despite Corona, fly around the world and get infected there, or tennis star Novak Djokovic and his hassle with entering Australia?
Basically, as an athlete you are a kind of role model, at least you should be. I try to stick to the rules. But even before Corona, I was someone who avoided crowds. Everyone has to decide for themselves what to do. But don’t be selfish and think only of yourself. You have to act in the interests of society.
You ran for the CDU in the 2021 federal elections in Berlin. What do you think of the so-called “walks” against the Corona policy that are currently taking place in many cities? Is German society divided?
There has always been division. You can never please everyone. It’s the same in sport, in culture, in business – it’s the same everywhere. And there is the right to demonstrate in our country. But as a federal police officer, I also have my own thoughts. When I think about what kind of tasks the police already have, the burden is of course even greater. In return, she often receives a thrashing, including from the media. One must never forget: my colleagues in the police force are only human and there are always families behind them.
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