After the “conciliatory” end of years of legal dispute, the five -time Olympic champion hangs the ice skates on the nail.
The five-time ice skating Olympic champion Claudia Pechstein ends her career. “I’ve been waiting for so many years, now the time has come. It is enough for me, ”said the 53-year-old at a press conference in Berlin on Monday:“ I am totally happy because so much drops from me. I have been waiting for this day and I am totally proud that I can announce it now. ”
Pechstein comes to eight Olympic participation in her career, as many as no other athlete in winter. Across all gender, she shares the best value with the Japanese ski jumper Noriaki Kasai.
Pechstein celebrated her Olympic premiere in Albertville in 1992. She won bronze over 5000 meters. Overall, the “EisaMa”, 2022 German flag bearer comes to five Olympic medals at the opening ceremony in Beijing. In addition, she became world champion on the individual route five times, won 34 World Cup victories and was on the podium 115 times there.
In the past week, Pechstein surprisingly announced an agreement in years of dispute over compensation with the World Association ISU. After 16 years, they had “come to a clear and conciliatory end”, Pechstein’s life partner and DesG President Matthias Große said.
“I always said: when it is over, I stop. With that I can hang up the ice skates,” said Pechstein: “Of course I am advisable and still available as a trainer. But not as a competitive athlete.”