Berlin (AP) – Speed skater Claudia Pechstein is proud of her eighth participation in the Winter Olympics, but believes winning another medal in Beijing is unrealistic.
“If everything goes well, I’ll probably only realize on site that I’m the only woman in the world who can experience the eighth Winter Games. It’s kind of a great feeling,” said the 49-year-old.
On January 29, the five-time Olympic champion will fly with the German team to the games in China, which begin on February 4. There she is for the second time after 2018 one of three candidates as the German flag bearer at the opening ceremony. “It’s already a great honor for me that I’m being talked to. If that’s the case, even more so,” she said.
Most successful German Winter Olympian
With five gold medals and two silver and two bronze medals, the federal police officer is the most successful German Winter Olympian. Her goal is no longer to add another medal on the ice of the National Speed Skating Oval, even though her start in the mass start race on February 19 is full of uncertainties. “That’s true, but I’m still a realist and I say that I can’t win an Olympic medal anymore,” emphasized the Berliner, who celebrated her Olympic debut 30 years ago in Albertville.
Away from the ice oval, Claudia Pechstein is still struggling with the consequences of her suspension from 2009 to 2011 due to suspected doping. A claim for damages is pending before the Federal Constitutional Court. “I will fight to the end and if I have to go to the European Court of Justice, that’s where I’ll go,” said the athlete, who celebrates her 50th birthday on February 22.
The speed skating world association ISU had banned her without a positive doping test on the basis of indirect evidence. In retrospect, Pechstein was diagnosed with an inherited blood anomaly. “There was never a positive test from me. Everyone knows that that was a misjudgment,” she said.