Lausanne, Switzerland - Five-time Olympic speed skating champion Claudia Pechstein will not be able to race on Saturday in Hamar, Norway after an application was turned down by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne on Friday. Pechstein had applied to race at the World Cup event to retain her chances of qualifying for the Olympic Games in Vancouver in February.
The 37-year-old German is waiting to hear the outcome of an appeal to CAS against a ban imposed for blood doping.
A decision by CAS was originally expected this week but has now been deferred to November 25, ruling her out of the this weekend's World Cup event. Pechstein had then made an urgent application to be allowed to race on Saturday.
The skater and the German speed skating association DESG are appealing against a decision by the International Skating Union (ISU) disciplinary commission to suspend her for two years.
Pechstein, who was banned on July 1 after being found guilty of an anti-doping rule violation, was told by CAS in September she could train fully but not take part in competition pending her appeal.
She was banned for abnormally high levels of reticulocytes (immature red blood cells) on several occasions, including the all-round world championships in February in Norway.
She has protested her innocence and argued before the court that the high levels of red blood cells could be produced naturally.
