16 seconds ago 2009-12-04T08:25:03-08:00
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AFP) – International sport's top court on Wednesday delayed by two weeks a ruling on German Olympic speedskater Claudia Pechstein's appeal against a two-year doping ban.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) had been aiming to deliver a decision on the five-time Olympic and six-time world champion's case this week, before the World Cup skating season begins on November 10.
But it said in a statement that the "final award, with written reasons" would be released in around two weeks.
"The CAS Panel in charge of this case has decided to issue its final award together with the written reasons.
"As a consequence, the deliberations and the preparation of the final award will probably be concluded in around two weeks from now," CAS added.
The 37 year-old's aim of competing in a sixth straight Winter Olympics in Vancouver was hit by the International Skating Union's (ISU) suspension for blood doping in July.
Two months ago, CAS allowed her to train but not to compete in any official skating competition while her appeal was considered.
Pechstein has vehemently disputed the ISU case against her, claiming that eight of the 20 tests carried out in training and used to condemn her contained identification errors.
