Enlarge imageBERLIN (Reuters) - Olympic speed skating champion Claudia Pechstein can resume training with the German federation after her appeal against a two-year doping ban was partially upheld, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said Friday.
However, the 37-year-old is still banned from participating in any skating competition while she waits for a CAS hearing on her case next month with a decision expected by early November.
She is desperate to stay competitive, hoping to take part in her sixth successive Winter Games in Vancouver next year.
The International Skating Union (ISU) imposed the two-year ban on Pechstein in July after it said her blood profile had included abnormal values in a series of tests, in particular during February's world all-round championships.
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The ban, which included federation training, was backdated to February 9 this year.
The five-time Olympic gold medallist has appealed against the ISU ruling, saying she had never tested positive for banned substances and the positive results were due to testing mistakes and sample mix-ups.
"Claudia Pechstein is granted leave to participate in all training sessions authorised or organised by the German Speed Skating Federation (DESG) or a club and to use for training purposes any available speedskating racing track, until the Panel's decision on the merits of the appeal," CAS said on their website (www.tas-cas.org).
"The leave granted is strictly confined to training and practice sessions and does not allow (her) to take part in any skating competition sanctioned by a sports authority at any level whatsoever, be it international, national or local."
The top sports court said it expects to make a final ruling before the World Cup speed skating season starts in November.
(Writing by Karolos Grohmann, Editing by Ken Ferris)
