Claudia Pechstein brings herself into the conversation for sports politics

The new national speed skating coach Claudia Pechstein could imagine switching to sports politics. When asked whether she would be available as Minister of State for Sport and Volunteering, the five-time Olympic champion told "Bild am Sonntag": "I'm currently passionate about my new job, I'm putting all my heart and soul into it. But anyone who knows me knows: I have never hidden when it came to taking on responsibility.«

Pechstein would listen to what he had in mind and tell him what needed to change. "I don't know the sport from files, but from inside, from the dressing room, from the ice rink, no matter what time of day," says the 54-year-old. She knows where there is a fire, where clubs, associations and volunteers are fighting and are at their limits. The 54-year-old has not yet been publicly listed as a specific candidate.

Pechstein ran for the Bundestag in 2021 for the CDU in the Berlin constituency of Treptow-Köpenick, but failed as a direct candidate. Since August 1st, she has been working as a national coach in the all-around discipline for the German Speed ​​Skating and Short Track Association (DESG). The DESG remained without a medal at the Winter Games in Milan – for the fourth time in a row.

In the course of the planned structural reform, the association's leadership around Pechstein's partner and DESG President Matthias Große is being criticized. Pechstein responded to the accusation of nepotism because of her relationship with Große: "There are those who say: 'Man, great,' and there are those who have something against it, no matter what we do. But they should rather clean up their own front door.«