German speedskating team: Door to get Pechstein at the Olympics still open

Speedskater Pechstein hopes to race for Germany

BERLIN — The German speedskating association is hoping five-time Olympic champion Claudia Pechstein can still race at the Vancouver Games.

Association president Gerd Heinze said Friday that Pechstein could still make the team if a Swiss court rules in her favor before Jan. 29.

Heinze said “the door is still open a crack.”

Pechstein was suspended on charges of blood doping last year. She took her case to a Swiss court after the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld her suspension until February 2011.

The 37-year-old German has never failed a drug test and denies doping.