EWith her official nomination, high-speed skier Claudia Pechstein has cleared the final hurdle for her eighth participation in the Olympic Games in Beijing. The 49-year-old five-time Olympic champion from Berlin is one of the twenty athletes who were nominated by the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) on Tuesday for the Games from February 4th to 20th.
After qualifying, Pechstein, who will set a record for women with her eighth Olympic start, described this as the “absolute highlight” of her career. If she started in Beijing, she would catch up with the previous sole record holder, the Japanese ski jumper Noriaki Kasai. Older than Pechstein, who will celebrate her 50th birthday two days after the closing ceremony, and never a participant in winter games.
A pool of 35 ice hockey players has also been nominated, with reservations and without naming names, which will be reduced to 25 players (22 players / three goalkeepers) on January 18. In view of possible corona illnesses and injuries, national coach Toni Söderholm asked not to name any player at first in order to avoid speculation and debates, as an association spokesman said. The German team won Olympic silver in Pyeongchang in 2018.
Several toboggan medal winners from Pyeongchang 2018, including the gold relay around Natalie Geisenberger, Tobias Wendl / Tobias Arlt and Johannes Ludwig, are there as well as the three-time Olympic champion Felix Loch. Wendl / Arlt have so far won four gold medals and could replace Pechstein at the top of the German best list at the Beijing Games with another double gold coup. In addition to Pechstein, four other speed skaters received their tickets: Michelle Uhrig, Patrick Beckert, Joel Dufter and Felix Rijhnen. In figure skating, hopes rest on the European Championship fifth in pair skating, Minerva Hase / Nolan Seegert. Nicole Schott will compete in the women, while the German champion Paul Fentz will only run in the team competition. Katharina Müller / Tim Dieck will compete in the ice dance.
“With the completion of the first round of nominations, the first step on the way to a strong team D for Beijing has been taken,” said DOSB President Thomas Weikert. “We will once again and hopefully for the last time experience games of a very special kind under pandemic conditions.”
In 2018 in Pyeongchang there were 153 active members in the German squad (94 men, 59 women). With 14 gold, ten silver and seven bronze medals, the German athletes took second place behind Norway (14-14-11) in the medal table. There are 109 decisions at the Beijing Games, seven more than four years ago. The DOSB will complete the German team in a second round of nominations on January 18th.
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