Hamburg - Five-time Olympic speed skating champion Claudia Pechstein of Germany has been banned for two years by the ruling body ISU for blood doping. The ISU said on Friday that Pechstein had abnormal blood values at several tests including the all-round world championships February 7 and 8, 2009, in Hamar, Norway. The ISU said she used "the prohibited method of blood doping."
Pechstein is banned from February 9, 2009, until February 8, 2011, and will miss the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. She won her five gold medals at the 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2006 Games.
The ISU said that Pechstein has appealed the ban before the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
