Pechstein, Claudia (c. 1973—)

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Pechstein, Claudia (c. 1973—)

German speedskater. Born around 1973.

Claudia Pechstein won the silver medal in the 1998 Olympic Games at Nagano in the 3,000 meters. In the 5,000, though her "legs felt heavy" at the start, she became the second woman to skate under seven minutes with a time of 6:59.61 (the first being Gunda Niemann a few minutes earlier with a time of 6:59.65); Pechstein snatched the gold from Niemann's grasp by 4/100ths of a second. Her previous best time in the 5,000 had been 7:14.37. The bronze went to Lyudmila Prokasheva of Kazakstan.