One day before the start of the World Cup season, the conflict between Claudia Pechstein, her partner Matthias Große and the German speed skating community has escalated.
In a detailed letter posted on Facebook, the five-time Olympic gold medalist DESG sporting director Matthias Kulik attacked sharply and urged him to "finally take responsibility and draw clear conclusions from the abuses shown in this 'open letter'.
She accused Kulik of "deliberate damage to my athletic path and surroundings". She will continue to fight for "my association," wrote Pechstein, "because as shown and it will certainly not go on and you will not break my dream of participating in the 8th Olympic Games."
At the same time, Pechstein noted that her partner, Große, whom she had proposed after the resignation announcement of Stefanie Teeuwen as the new president of DESG, had "already today" pledges from "willing" sponsors to bring the association financially back on track.
On Tuesday, the DESG Great had struck out because of "association-damaging" statements from the staff of the national team. Pechstein clearly rejected this reproach: "Without Matthias (Große, d.Red.) There would never have been a comeback for DESG with several World Cup victories and world championship medals."
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