31 years after her debut in the World Cup, speed skater Claudia Pechstein wants to continue to set “one or the other highlight”.
At the start of the season in Stavanger, Norway, the Berliner had demonstrated with eleventh place in the mass start that she still belongs to the extended world elite in speed skating.
“I was happy to qualify for the finals in the mass start under these conditions and at my age and to be able to scratch a place in the top ten there” said Pechstein.
No end of sporting career in sight
The five-time Olympic champion keeps postponing her departure from the ice rinks. Most recently, she was the flag bearer at the Olympics in Beijing. And now she has her eye on the Winter Games again. “See how close I can get to the ninth games.” The next matches will take place in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo from February 6 to 22, 2026.
Second World Cup in Heerenveen
The present is called Heerenveen. The second World Cup will be held in the Dutch speed skating stronghold this weekend. After 16th place over 3,000 meters in Stavanger, Pechstein lost her starting place in the strong A group and is running in the B group there.
Will you be able to return to the top group this winter? “That’s a crystal ball question that no one can answer with certainty“, she explains sceptically. Her competitors, who are sometimes not even half her age, are now far ahead of her in terms of time.
More modest claims
While Felix Rijhnen (Frankfurt/Main) celebrated his first World Cup victory in a mass start in Stavanger, podium places are probably out of reach for the Berliner. Your claims are therefore modest. “Above all, stay healthy and maybe set one or the other highlight for my age” she names as a goal.
The most promising is the mass start competition over 16 laps with intermediate sprints. There she was ninth in Beijing. “Anything is possible in a mass start“Said national coach Helge Jasch.