Speed skating: Olympic starting place for the German team around Pechstein

Next success for Claudia Pechstein: The five-time Olympic speed skating champion has qualified for the Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang at the fourth seasonal World Cup in Salt Lake City with her team pursuit.

On Friday, the 45-year-old from Berlin, along with Gabriele Hirschbichler and Roxanne Dufter (both Inzell), finished third in a good 2:56.14 minutes to win the Olympic ticket as the runner-up of the overall World Cup.

The victory went to Japan in the world record time of 2:50.87 minutes.

Pechstein, who won her first Olympic medal back in 1992 in Albertville, is about to take part in her seventh Winter Games and has already met the DOSB standard for over 3000m and 5000m.