Next year in February she will celebrate her fiftieth birthday, but at home she has once again outclassed all her and a generation younger rivals. German speed skating legend Claudia Pechstein won the 40th jubilee title at the National Championship in Inzell on Friday after winning the 3000-meter race for the thirteenth time in the sovereignly best time of 4: 11.82 min.
Claudia Pechstein rejoices in the title of German champion at 3000 meters.
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The second Michelle Uhrigová reached the finish line in 4: 16.27, she won the bronze in a personal record of 4: 16.92 min. Victoria Stirnemann, 19-year-old daughter of another German speed skating legend, Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann. Today, veteran Pechsteinová won 5,000 meters at the German championship, she will also start the race with a mass start.
“I am pleased with the victory, of course, but I take it a little with reserve. In such a Netherlands, I would have been among retirees for 15 years, “said her long-time rival and friend of the Czech speed skater Martina Sáblíková.” Even the 41st title is in a way great. But the distance from the young girls is extreme, “Pechstein commented on Saturday’s victory by almost 16 seconds.
Claudia Pechstein wins her 40th national title at the German Championship over 3000 meters – at the age of 49. This is just the beginning of their project: take part in the eighth Olympic Games. https://t.co/GNHGGKp3tf
— FAZ Sport (@FAZ_Sport) October 29, 2021
The six-time world champion and former world record holder won the title in the first four events of the new season of the World Cup, in which she will fight for seats at the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing. Pechstein started at the Olympic Games for the first time in Albertville in 1992, where she won bronze at the top five. She then added eight more medals, including five gold. If she managed to qualify for Beijing, she would become the first woman in history to start at the eight Olympics.
Among men, this record entry is held by the Japanese ski jumper Noriaki Kasai.
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