Blood doping
November 25, 2009
Claudia Pechstein and the German speed skating association DESG had lodged an appeal at the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland against her two-year doping ban. Pechstein disputed the doping allegations, claiming laboratory errors in the tests.
Her managemnent confirmed that the CAS upheld the ban, which was imposed for blood doping by the International Skating Union. The ban will run until February 2011.
In her first reaction to the ruling, 37-year-old Pechstein told the dpa news agency that the decision was a major setback.
"It's really hard for me to accept this (verdict). I am shocked about the outcome, but more by how it came about," said Pechstein.
No chance for a final gold
Pechstein's lawyer told AP news agency that he would take her case to the Swiss supreme court.
Blood samples returned in February during the World Allround Championships in Norway showed no traces of performance-enhancing drugs but did find unusually high levels of reticulocyte (immature blood cells) in a series of tests.
In the 66-page ruling the CAS said the high reticulocyte levels in Pechstein's blood sample could only be explained by "illegal manipulation of her own blood".
Pechstein, who's from Berlin, is one of Germany's most successful sportswomen and has won a total of nine Olympic medals and six World Championship titles. She won her first Olympic gold medal in the 5,000-meter race in Lillehammer in 1994.
Pechstein had been hoping to compete in her sixth successive Winter Games in Vancouver next year, in possibly her last chance to go for gold before retiring from the sport.
nrt/dpa/AP
Editor: Michael Lawton