Record Olympian Claudia Pechstein leaves her sporting future open. “I’ll end the season first and then make a decision at some point,” said the speed skater on Wednesday in the Red Town Hall in Berlin.
She could imagine working as a trainer, she has already started training at the trainer academy. She wanted to pass on her experience from 30 years of speed skating, said the 50-year-old. Whether that happens immediately afterwards or whether she continues to compete, “we’ll see.”
She also wants to get involved politically. But first she will compete at the all-around world championships in Hamar, Norway, and at the World Cup finals on March 12th and 13th in Heerenveen, the Netherlands, according to Pechstein.
The games ended on Sunday. Pechstein carried the German flag at the opening ceremony. As the first woman and only the second winter athlete after the Japanese ski jumper Noriaki Kasai, she started at the Winter Games for the eighth time.
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The performance of the Berlin athletes around Pechstein at the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing was honored on Wednesday in the Red City Hall. “Berliners are proud of their top athletes. Once again, with their commitment and achievements, they were important ambassadors of sport and the sports metropolis Berlin at home and abroad,” said State Secretary Nicola Böcker-Giannini, who is responsible for sport.
In addition to Pechstein, speed skater Michelle Uhrig, ice hockey players Mathias Niederberger, Marcel Noebels and Leonhard Pfoerdl and figure skaters Paul Fentz and Minerva Hase also signed the town’s guest book.