Berlin (dpa) – So far, Claudia Pechstein was Germany’s most successful winter Olympian, now the exceptional speed skater is also the world record holder: In Beijing, the 49-year-old Berliner is the first woman to start at her eighth Olympic Winter Games.
She is also one of three candidates to be the flag bearer at the opening ceremony. In an interview with the German Press Agency, the five-time Olympic champion talks about her expectations, Olympic clothing and medals, as well as her hardest time and the ongoing consequences.
A brief look back at the European Championships: What insights did you take with you from there with a view to the Olympics?
Claudia Pechstein: For me, the European Championships were just a training station. But I’m happy with my 3000 meters. It was a very consistent run and of course very good training. The mass start was a bit unfortunate for me because two runners fell directly in front of and behind. One got stuck on my ice skate. Luckily, a figure skating session was able to keep me upright and avoid a fall. But of course that cost time and after that I didn’t have a chance to catch up with the leading group. Of course I would have liked to have landed a little further up front. But in the end it was what it is. It’s a lottery race.
Immediately after the European Championships you went back to the training camp in Inzell…
Pechstein: What is a training camp? There is no ice cream in Berlin, so I have to find my way elsewhere.
What I actually wanted to ask: When was your last day off from sports and how did you spend it?
Pechstein: On January 1, for example, I didn’t do anything. I’m relatively relaxed. I don’t train every day because the body needs a bit of time and a break. The winter athlete is made in the summer anyway. If I thought I’d missed something now, I wouldn’t have to try to catch up anymore. Because the basics you would train now will no longer work in February.
What motivates you to torture yourself almost every day in training?
Pechstein: Those are definitely the Olympic Games. I’m still trying to work out the shape so that it fits well. Basically, at my age I no longer need to think about changing anything. For me, the technique is the same as always. I’m just mentally preparing for the Olympics and I just hope that I’ll stay healthy. Positive attitude, negative corona tests. That fits.
After the nomination you were at the Olympic outfit – for the eighth time. What did you do with all those old Olympic clothes?
Pechstein: Nothing ended up in the old clothes collection. I have a large family, my sisters were also happy about one or the other thing. I actually still have quite a lot of things myself, because that’s something special and special. You can’t just buy parts anywhere.
Where do you keep your Olympic medals?
Pechstein: I keep the medals in a safe deposit box at a bank because you can’t copy them. I wanted to have a duplicate made for my former coach Joachim Franke as a thank you. But you’re not allowed to do that. An Olympic medal like that is actually not worth much as far as the material is concerned. But the ideal value is priceless. That’s why I keep them in a bank safe deposit box just to be on the safe side.
How do you rate the chances of getting another medal?
Pechstein: It’s illusory to think about it. I’ve been saying that for a while that I don’t fight for medals anymore. This is pure realism. Some say a surprise is always possible in the mass start. That’s true, but I’m still a realist and I say that I can no longer win an Olympic medal. But that’s not bad either, because I have nine Olympic medals.
With your eighth participation in the Olympics, you are writing history. How real is that to you?
Pechstein: I’ve definitely been nominated now. On the part of the DOSB, there is officially a catch. Now the Olympics can come. And then I try to arrive in Beijing negatively and stay negative there so that I can really start in my eighth games. All qualified athletes probably have this big concern. A positive corona test just before the start and the work of the past four years would be for naught. If everything goes well, I’ll probably only realize when I’m there that I’m the only woman in the world who can experience the eighth Winter Games. That’s kind of a cool feeling.
It could already be your ninth games. Do you feel you have lost this record?
Pechstein: I feel like I’ve lost my image, my rights, everything that has to do with my career as an athlete. Worse still, the consequences of this misjudgment have also affected my privacy. My life would have been completely different if the ISU and CAS hadn’t made me the guinea pig for indirect evidence. We probably wouldn’t be talking today if I had been treated fairly. If I had been allowed to compete under normal conditions at the 2010 Vancouver Games, I might have stopped after that. Many say it’s actually your ninth game. But that cannot be said with certainty. Would, if and had are not mine anyway. The fact is that I’ve qualified for my eighth game and at the same time I’m still fighting for justice.
From 2009 to 2011 you were banned – officially because of doping – and therefore missed Vancouver. However, a blood anomaly was discovered afterwards. How do you look back on this time more than ten years later?
Pechstein: I wasn’t banned for doping. Because the sports judges at the time did not see enough evidence of a blood anomaly as the cause of my fluctuating values, they assumed that I must have been doping. A negligent fallacy. There is now a clear diagnosis because my parents also had themselves examined. This proved that the anomaly was inherited from my father. On the day of this diagnosis, the matter was resolved and I was able to look ahead. I have a great team around me, first and foremost Matthias (Editor’s note: Matthias Große, President of the German Speed Skating and Short Track Association). Getting to know him was the only positive thing during my suspension. I’m still glad that I didn’t have to take care of everything myself during that time. If I had had to do that, I wouldn’t have been able to walk another meter.
When will you be able to finish this?
Pechstein: I will definitely continue with the claim for damages. Win or die is symbolically my motto for the proceedings that the Federal Constitutional Court is currently dealing with. I have nothing left to lose. Everything was taken from me then. I was already in the car and wanted to take my life. I’m glad I didn’t. I will fight to the end and if I have to go to the European Court of Justice, I will go there. I have never had a positive test. Everyone knows that was a misjudgment.
How has it been since then: Do you have a certificate or a blood passport that records the anomaly?
Pechstein: The results of my doping controls are recorded in the blood passport, just like with everyone else. This is also all transparent in ADAMS. Of course, the anomaly inherited from my father still causes me to have fluctuating reticulocyte counts. I’ve already reported myself three times in the past when the values were similar to when I was banned. The only strange thing is that this did not lead to any reaction from the ISU. This is clear proof that everyone at the world association has long known that I was wronged. Otherwise I would have been tried a long time ago.
Now you are being discussed as the German flag bearer. What would that mean to you?
Pechstein: It’s already a great honor for me that I’m being interviewed. If that’s the case, even more so.
Patrick Hausding and Laura Ludwig carried the flag together in Tokyo. Which man can you imagine at your side in Beijing?
Pechstein: I haven’t thought about that yet. That’s not in my hands either. Francesco Friedrich is not only a double Olympic champion from 2018, but is currently winning everything in bobsleigh. I think he could be a male contender.
Eighth Olympic Games – put the eight aside and you have infinity. Sports careers are not infinite. How close are you to the end of your career?
Pechstein: I’ve often been asked that. At the moment I’m concentrating on the Olympics and doing my thing. I’ve been running from Olympia to Olympia since 2002. Last also from year to year. Speed skating is my life. Sport is my life.
Shortly after Beijing you celebrate your 50th birthday. How are the plans for the party going?
Pechstein: Under Corona conditions, we don’t need to talk about a party. I always say that a birthday is a day like any other. At my age, as an athlete, my birthday is every day (laughs). First I want to pass the Olympic Games.
To person:Speed skater Claudia Pechstein is the first woman to take part in the Winter Olympics for the eighth time. Since her debut in Albertville in 1992, the Berliner has won five gold medals and two silver medals and is considered the most successful German winter athlete. Two days after the end of the games, the Federal Police officer celebrates her 50th birthday on February 22nd.