Pechstein says ISU using her case as a precedent (Roundup)

Jul 4, 2009, 13:36 GMT

   Hamburg - Banned speed skater Claudia Pechstein on Saturday protested her innocence and accused the ruling body ISU of using her case to set a precedent.

The five-time Olympic champion Pechstein told the German Press Agency dpa that she has never doped, the day after a two-year ban on her was announced by the ISU for abnormal blood values.

'I am presented by the ISU as a precedent. I feel messed around by the ISU,' Pechstein told dpa.

Pechstein is the most decorated German Winter Olympian with five gold, two silver and two bronze medals.

She is believed to be the first athlete banned over screenings in the biological passport, which is also other sports such as cycling and various ski sports.

The ISU introduced the passport 10 years ago and under new rules since January 1 athletes can be banned over abnormal findings.

'They said within the ISU said that one athlete will be done by circumstantial evidence because the new WADA code allows athletes to be banned without a positive test,' she suggested.

Pechstein also issued a long statement on her website in which she confirmed that she will bring the case before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for a final ruling.

   The ISU announced on Friday that it had banned Pechstein for two years until February 2011 for blood doping due to abnormal blood values and abnormal changes of the values in various tests, most notably at the February 7/8 worlds in Norway.

She said that a deal was made with the ISU in Norway, making her withdraw due to illness and the ISU not making the case public.

'Now I am upset that I agreed to this deal,' Pechstein told dpa.

Pechstein said she is ready to fight for her reputation.

   'A forbidden substance has never been found in my blood or in my urine. The reason is simple: I have never used something which is forbidden, I have never had transfusions of my own blood or that from others, or better, I never doped,' she said.

   Pechstein attacked the ISU, saying that it imposed the ban although experts said at a hearing earlier this week that Pechstein's elevated values of reticulocytes (immature red blood cells) were not necessarily a sign of blood doping.

   Pechstein said the ISU ignored her willingness to undergo a comprehensive blood screening, but that she will do it 'because I want to know as well how you can have the abnormal values without doping.'

She then told dpa: 'There is no proof, just circumstantial evidence: the elevated reticulocytes values. That can never be enough to ban an athlete.'

   The German Olympic Committee DOSB said in a statement that it was 'dismayed' by the case, but all other parties involved remained sceptical about the ISU ruling.

   'The DOSB detects that there is no positive doping test and that the sanction is based entirely on circumstantial evidence,' the DOSB said.

   'The evidential value of this circumstantial evidence is doubted by renowned experts. It will depend on the proceedings before the CAS whether the international federation can prove a violation of anti-doping rules.'