Speed skater Pechstein qualifies for eighth Olympics

The five-time Olympic champion has qualified for her eighth Winter Olympics. The Berliner met the Olympic standard in what's called the mass start competition at the World Cup in Calgary, Canada on Sunday.

As she did in a mass start event the previous week in Utah, the 49-year-old finished eleventh in Calgary, and has now earned a rank of 17th in the world in the World Cup rankings, the key for Olympics qualification. There are 24 starting places in Beijing in the mass start with all competitors sharing the ice at once.

Pechstein considers herself the "grandma" of the German team. She will be able to join 26-year-old Michelle Uhrig, a fellow Berliner, who finished eighth in Sunday's race.

First Olympics

Pechstein's first Olympics experience was at age 19 when, after growing up on the eastern side of the Berlin Wall, she competed for a unified Germany at the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville, France. Previous to unification, she had skated for team East Germany.

Over the years she amassed Olympic gold medals in the 5,000 meters in 1994, 1998 and 2002, adding the 3,000 meters gold in 2002, then skating on Germany's winning pursuit team in 2006. She also won silver in the 1998 3,000 meters and in the 5,000 meters in 2006, and she won bronze medals in the 1998 3,000 meters and the 1992 1,500 meters.

Doping conviction

She denies ever using performance-enhancing drugs, but Pechstein was barred from competition at the 2009 World Championships due to irregularly high blood values - indicative, officials said, of blood doping. Pechstein was given a two-year ban, later confirmed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. As a result, she missed the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.

In 2011, just days after her suspension ended, she qualified for speed skating's World Cup. Not long after, she tried, but failed, to qualify for the 2012 London Summer Games in cycling.

2022 Beijing Games

The mass start event at the Winter Olympics in Beijing will be 16 laps around the 400-meter speed skating oval, 6,400 meters in all. With 23 other competitors sharing the ice, it has been described as a mild version of "Roller Derby on ice," referring to the rough and tumble roller skating competition. It is at once tactical and grueling: perfect fit for an athlete who says she still relies on her intense and focused competitive preparation in the former East Germany.

(kmc, DPA)