Pechstein protests innocence; regrets deal with ISU (1st Lead)

Hamburg - Banned speed skater Claudia Pechstein said on Saturday she never engaged in doping practices and apologized for having made a deal with the ruling body ISU to keep the issue out of the spotlight. In a statement on her website, the five-time Olympic champion Pechstein said that the ISU suggested to her at the world allround championships that she withdraw with an illness so the issue could be dealt with quietly. Pechstein confirmed that she will appeal the ruling before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). 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. Pechstein, the most successful German Winter Olympian with five gold, two silver and two bronze medals, protested her innocence. '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. 'I hope these tests lead to a swift result which will explain the case,' she said. Pechstein is believed to be the first athlete sanctioned through blood screening results only. The ISU introduced the biological passport in 2009 and doping sanctions based on the screenings were introduced this year. 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.' Pechstein said in her statement that she will fight to clear her name and said she only made one mistake in the affair when she withdrew ill from the worlds. 'It was suggested to me 'when you declare yourself ill the public won't be informed. And the whole affair can be cleared up quietly.' 'My fear to be openly accused of doping and the hope to clear the issue without a fuss was stronger than my desire to scream out about being innocently accused of doping. Today I know that this was a mistake,' she said.