- Claudia Pechstein
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Medal record 
Claudia PechsteinCompetitor for 
GermanyWomen's speed skating Olympic Games Gold 2002 Salt Lake City 3000 m Gold 1994 Lillehammer 5000 m Gold 1998 Nagano 5000 m Gold 2002 Salt Lake City 5000 m Gold 2006 Turin Team pursuit Silver 1998 Nagano 3000 m Silver 2006 Turin 5000 m Bronze 1992 Albertville 5000 m Bronze 1994 Lillehammer 3000 m World Championships Gold 2000 Nagano 1500 m Gold 2000 Nagano 3000 m Gold 2004 Seoul 3000 m Gold 1996 Hamar 5000 m Gold 2003 Berlin 5000 m Gold 2000 Milwaukee Allround Silver 1996 Hamar 1500 m Silver 1996 Hamar 3000 m Silver 1998 Calgary 3000 m Silver 1999 Heerenveen 3000 m Silver 2003 Berlin 3000 m Silver 2005 Inzell 3000 m Silver 1998 Calgary 5000 m Silver 1999 Heerenveen 5000 m Silver 2000 Nagano 5000 m Silver 2001 Salt Like City 5000 m Silver 2005 Inzell 5000 m Silver 2007 Salt Lake City 5000 m Silver 1996 Inzell Allround Silver 1997 Nagano Allround Silver 1998 Heerenveen Allround Silver 1999 Hamar Allround Silver 2001 Budapest Allround Silver 2003 Gothenburg Allround Silver 2004 Hamar Allround Silver 2006 Calgary Allround Bronze 1998 Calgary 1500 m Bronze 2001 Salt Lake City 3000 m Bronze 1997 Warszawa 5000 m Bronze 2004 Seoul 5000 m Bronze 2002 Heerenveen Allround Bronze 2005 Moscow Allround Bronze 2007 Salt Lake City Team pursuit Bronze 2008 Nagano Team pursuit Bronze 2011 Inzell 5000m Bronze 2011 Inzell Team pursuit European Championships Gold 1998 Helsinki Allround Gold 2006 Hamar Allround Gold 2009 Heerenveen Allround Silver 1999 Heerenveen Allround Silver 2001 Baselga di Piné Allround Silver 2002 Erfurt Allround Silver 2003 Heerenveen Allround Silver 2004 Heerenveen Allround Bronze 1996 Heerenveen Allround Bronze 2005 Heerenveen Allround Claudia Pechstein (born 22 February 1972) is a German speed skater. With a total of five Olympic gold medals, two silver, and two bronze medals, she is the most successful German Winter Olympian of all time. Pechstein is the first female Winter Olympian to win medals in five consecutive Olympics (1992–2006), and she won the gold medal in the women's 5,000 meter race in three consecutive Olympics (1994–2002), and the silver medal in the fourth (2006). In the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, Pechstein also won a gold medal in the women's team pursuit.
Claudia Pechstein was born in East Berlin. She held a world record on the 5,000 m track with the time 6:46.91 achieved on the Utah Olympic Oval in Salt Lake City on 23 February 2002, which was beaten by Martina Sáblíková on the same oval five years later.
Pechstein is a sergeant in the German Federal Police and trains at the force's sports training centre at Bad Endorf.
As reported by Olympic news outlet Around the Rings, Pechstein is aiming for an Olympic return, this time as a cyclist. "I will start in the individual pursuit at the German Track Championships from July 6-10 in Berlin," she said. "I am also planning to race the individual sprint or the 500-meter time trial. I trust I can do this because as a skater I've trained a lot on the bike. I have nothing to lose. I don't know how this kind of competition works, so this alone is really exciting."
Two-year ban because of accusation of blood doping
Claudia Pechstein (2007)
After the World Championships in Norway in February 2009, the International Skating Union accused Pechstein of blood doping and banned her from all competitions for two years. This ban was based on irregular levels of reticulocytes in her blood. These levels were highest during the Calgary World Cup 2007 and the Hamar World Championships in 2009; elevated levels were also found during a number of other competitions but only during a small minority of training spot checks.[1]
Pechstein denied that she had doped and appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, claiming among other things that she has an inherited condition explaining the abnormal measurements. The court affirmed the ban in November 2009, finding no evidence for an inherited condition in the expert testimony provided by Pechstein.[2] This was the first case of doping based on circumstantial evidence alone; no forbidden substances were ever found during her repeated tests.[1][3]
In December 2009 she asked the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland for an injunction and was allowed to participate at a single 3000m race in Salt Lake City, so that she could qualify for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver should her appeal of the ban be successful. She finished 13th in the race on 11 December but would have needed a place among the top 8 to qualify for the Olympics.[4]
In January 2010 the Swiss Federal Supreme Court refused to temporarily suspend Pechstein's ban for the Olympics.[5] On February 19, 2010 the CAS ad-hoc panel at the Vancouver Olympics rejected Pechstein's last minute appeal to be admitted to the ice skating team events.[6]
In February 2010, Pechstein filed a criminal complaint in Switzerland against the International Skating Union, alleging trial fraud.[7]
On March 15, 2010 Gerhard Ehninger, head of the German Society for Hematology and Oncology, said that an evaluation of the case points to a light form of a blood anemia called spherocytosis - apparently inherited from her father.[8] Pechstein attempted to use this new evidence in her appeal before the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland. The International Skating Union issued a press release explaining their opposition to this appeal.[9]
Pechstein stood to lose her position with the German Federal Police should blood doping have been proved "beyond reasonable doubt". Disciplinary proceedings against her were halted in August 2010 because no such proof was available.[10] Pechstein applied for unpaid leave in order to be able to continue her training, which was denied. As a result, she suffered a nervous breakdown in September 2010.[11]
The Swiss Federal Supreme Court issued its final ruling on September 28, 2010, rejecting Pechstein's appeal and confirming the ban.[12] Pechstein returned to competition in February 2011. She then won the Bronze Medal in the 2011 World Championships on the 5000m course, only behind World Champion Martina Sáblíková from the Czech Republic and her team mate Stephanie Beckert.
Skating record
Personal records Women's Distance Time Date Location Notes 500 m 38.99 1000 m 1:16.15 1500 m 1:54.83 3000 m 3:57.35 OR 5000 m 6:46.91 23 February 2002 Salt Lake City OR Winter Olympics World Cup - 2002 Olympics
- 3000 m - 1st
- 5000 m - 1st
- 1998 Olympics
- 3000 m - 2nd
- 5000 m - 1st
- 1994 Olympics
- 3000 m - 3rd
- 5000 m - 1st
- 1992 Olympics
- 3000 m - 3rd
- 1500 Meters
- 2003: 2nd
- 2002: 2nd
- 2001: 3rd
- 2000: 2nd
- 1999: 2nd
- 1998: 2nd
- 3000/5000 Meters
- 2004: 1st
- 2003: 1st
- 2002: 2nd
- 2001: 2nd
- 2000: 2nd
- 1999: 2nd
- 1998: 2nd
See also
- List of multiple Winter Olympic medalists
References
- ^ a b "Sportgericht urteilt gegen Pechstein", sueddeutsche.de, 25 November 2009, http://www.sueddeutsche.de/sport/233/495558/text/ (German)
- ^ CAS Arbitral Award, 25 November 2009
- ^ "Olympiasiegerin Pechstein wegen Blutdopings gesperrt", Spiegel Online, 3 July 2009, http://www.spiegel.de/sport/wintersport/0,1518,634241,00.html (German)
- ^ "Pechstein fails Olympia mark, vows to fight on", Earth Times, 15 February 2010, http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/298960,pechstein-fails-olympia-mark-vows-to-fight-on--summary.html
- ^ "Pechstein loses last appeal, will miss Olympics", USA Today, January 26, 2010, http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/2010-01-26-1078434314_x.htm
- ^ "Sportgericht lehnt Pechstein-Antrag ab" (in German), Spiegel Online, 19 February 2010, http://www.spiegel.de/sport/wintersport/0,1518,678903,00.html
- ^ "Pechstein zitiert E-Mail und beantragt Startrecht" (in German), Spiegel Online, 15 February 2010, http://www.spiegel.de/sport/wintersport/0,1518,677949,00.html
- ^ "Doctors argue Claudia Pechstein's abnormal blood levels caused by hereditary anomaly", The Canadian Press, 15 March 2010, http://vancouver2010.sympatico.ca/Home/ContentPosting_2010.htm?newsitemid=2663302&feedname=CP_EN_OGAMES&show=True&number=5&showbyline=False&abc=abc
- ^ ISU Position in the Pechstein Case, 18 May 2010
- ^ Disziplinarverfahren gegen Polizeihauptmeisterin Claudia Pechstein eingestellt, Bundesministerium des Inneren, 16 August 2010.(German)
- ^ Kritik an de Maizière statt Antritt zum Dienst, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 15 September 2010. (German)
- ^ Bundesgericht weist Revisionsgesuch der Eisschnellläuferin Claudia Pechstein ab, Medienmitteilung des Bundesgerichts, 1 October 2010. (German)
External links
Olympic champions in women's 3000 m speed skating 1960: Lidiya Skoblikova · 1964: Lidiya Skoblikova · 1968: Ans Schut · 1972: Stien Baas-Kaiser · 1976: Tatyana Averina · 1980: Bjørg Eva Jensen · 1984: Andrea Schöne · 1988: Yvonne van Gennip · 1992: Gunda Niemann · 1994: Svetlana Bazhanova · 1998: Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann · 2002: Claudia Pechstein · 2006: Ireen Wüst · 2010: Martina SáblíkováOlympic champions in women's 5000 m speed skating 1988: Yvonne van Gennip · 1992: Gunda Niemann · 1994: Claudia Pechstein · 1998: Claudia Pechstein · 2002: Claudia Pechstein · 2006: Clara Hughes · 2010: Martina SáblíkováOlympic champions in women's team pursuit 2006: Germany (Daniela Anschütz-Thoms, Anni Friesinger, Lucille Opitz, Claudia Pechstein, Sabine Völker) · 2010: Germany (Daniela Anschütz-Thoms, Stephanie Beckert, Anni Friesinger-Postma, Katrin Mattscherodt)World Champions in Women's 1500 m Speed Skating 1996: Annamarie Thomas • 1997: Gunda Niemann • 1998: Anni Friesinger • 1999: Emese Hunyady • 2000: Claudia Pechstein • 2001: Anni Friesinger • 2003: Anni Friesinger • 2004: Anni Friesinger • 2005: Cindy Klassen • 2007: Ireen Wüst • 2008: Anni Friesinger • 2009: Anni Friesinger • 2011: Ireen WüstWorld Champions in Women's 3000 m Speed Skating 1996: Gunda Niemann • 1997: Gunda Niemann • 1998: Gunda Niemann • 1999: Gunda Niemann • 2000: Claudia Pechstein • 2001: Gunda Niemann • 2003: Anni Friesinger • 2004: Claudia Pechstein • 2005: Cindy Klassen • 2007: Martina Sáblíková • 2008: Kristina Groves • 2009: Renate Groenewold • 2011: Ireen WüstWorld Champions in Women's 5000 m Speed Skating 1996: Claudia Pechstein • 1997: Gunda Niemann • 1998: Gunda Niemann • 1999: Gunda Niemann • 2000: Gunda Niemann • 2001: Gunda Niemann • 2003: Claudia Pechstein • 2004: Clara Hughes • 2005: Anni Friesinger • 2007: Martina Sáblíková • 2008: Martina Sáblíková • 2009: Martina Sáblíková • 2011: Martina SáblíkováLeaders of the Adelskalender, Women [1] Natalya Petrusyova • Gabi Zange-Schönbrunn • Karin Enke • Andrea Schöne • Karin Kania • Andrea Ehrig-Mitscherlich • Gunda Niemann • Claudia Pechstein • Anni Friesinger • Cindy KlassenCategories:- 1972 births
- Living people
- German police officers
- German speed skaters
- Speed skaters at the 1992 Winter Olympics
- Speed skaters at the 1994 Winter Olympics
- Speed skaters at the 1998 Winter Olympics
- Speed skaters at the 2002 Winter Olympics
- Speed skaters at the 2006 Winter Olympics
- Olympic medalists in speed skating
- 2002 Olympics
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