Olympic veteran Pechstein loses doping case in German court

BERLIN: A top German court on Tuesday ruled against speed skating icon Claudia Pechstein in her bid to seek compensation from the International Skating Union over a two-year doping ban.

The Berlin-born policewoman is the most successful Olympic speed skater of all time, having won five Olympic gold, two silver and two bronze medals.

The 44-year-old has competed in six Olympics (1992, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2014), but missed the 2010 Vancouver Games after a two-year ban (2009-11) for blood doping.

Pechstein has always contested the ban, saying the blood anomalies were caused by an illness, and sought compensation of five million euros from the ISU, skating’s world governing body.

“We sportspeople are obviously second-class citizens. What I’ve heard today is definitely not acceptable for me,” Pechstein told AFP subsidiary SID after the court’s ruling in Karlsruhe.

The speed skater said she could now take her case to the German consitutional court, also broaching the creation of a union for sportspeople.

“It will still last a few years. But I have the endurance and I’ll fight until the end,” she said.

The ISU welcomed the ruling by the Bundesgerichtshof.

“The International Skating Union... has welcomed with satisfaction the decision of the Bundesgerichtshof (the Supreme Civil Court of Germany) in the case of the German Speed Skater Ms. Claudia Pechstein,” it said in a statement.

“The ISU has always had great confidence in and respect of the Bundesgerichtshof, its competence, wisdom and legal professionalism. “The international fight against doping is greatly supported and this fight must be strengthened in particular, taking into consideration all the recent events revealing organised doping.” The German court ruling also backed the authority of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).