“My dream is shattered”
German ski star misses Olympic Games
November 25, 2025 – 3:06 p.mReading time: 1 min.
Victoria Carl won the gold medal at the last Olympic Games. This will most likely not be the case in Italy.
Cross-country skiing Olympic champion Victoria Carl will miss the Winter Games in Milan and Cortina next February after her positive doping test. Participation is “excluded based on the current status of the proceedings,” the German Ski Association announced on Tuesday. An official verdict from the National Anti-Doping Agency is still pending a few days before the start of the World Cup season.
During a training check in March, the 30-year-old had clenbuterol in her blood, a drug that is used, among other things, for respiratory diseases. Carl explained: “It is still difficult for me to accept that carelessness and incorrect medical treatment will now lead to my Olympic dream being shattered.”
Her positive test became known in the summer. The cross-country skier rejects any knowledge. The DSV was quoted in connection with the Winter Military World Games in Andermatt, Switzerland: “It was already a very hard time in which I always hoped that everything could turn out for the better.”
Victoria Carl won Olympic gold in the team sprint together with Katharina Hennig in 2022 and was considered a beacon of hope in national coach Peter Schlickenrieder’s team. The national coach himself recently said: “Vicky, we will become Olympic champions and then you will leave the stage as a great cross-country skier.” The Thuringian is an athlete with great passion and motivation. Assuming health, a comeback at the highest level is realistic. Currently, however, it is “far away from what would be feasible”.
It is still unclear when a final judgment will be made in the proceedings.