German outskates her star teammate

KEARNS, Utah - It turns out Claudia Pechstein had Anni Friesinger right where she wanted her.

On the front page. On the cover.

"Yes, you can have this big image, you can be everywhere," Pechstein said. "But this is the Olympics and you still have to skate."

Germany's Pechstein delivered the 2002 Games' first major upset Sunday, winning the women's 3,000-meter speedskating title with a world-record-setting victory that showed image apparently isn't everything after all.

On a day that was supposed to launch Friesinger's quest for three golds at the Utah Olympic Oval, Pechstein upstaged her flashier countrywoman and bitter rival by knocking more than 1.5 seconds off her own world record with a 3-minute, 57.70-second clocking for her third Olympic gold.

The first three finishers dipped under the old record with the Netherlands' Renate Groenewold second in 3:58.94. Canada's Cindy Klassen was third in 3:58.97. Friesinger had to settle for fourth in 3:59.39 after skating under record pace until the final lap. Jennifer Rodriguez was one of 10 to finish under the Olympic record, finishing seventh in an American-record 4:04.99.

"Who could have expected Anni Friesinger wouldn't be on the podium at all?" Groenewold said.

Friesinger arrived in Utah an iron-clad favorite to duplicate Johann Olav Koss of Norway's 1994 feat of winning three golds in world-record time. She was undefeated in all nine World Cup races leading up to the Olympics. "Absolutely dominant," Rodriguez said of her. But it was more than just Friesinger's dominance on the ice that made the blonde with striking looks Europe's most-talked Olympic athlete in the months leading up to Salt Lake City.

Friesinger appeared in a number of magazines wearing nothing but a pair of well-placed hands.

In between photo shoots she found time to tweak longtime nemesis Pechstein. In one interview, Friesinger, who was raised in Bavaria, accused residents from the former East Germany as being humorless. "They don't laugh there," she said knowing full well Pechstein was raised in East Berlin.

Pechstein had won five medals in three Olympics but had remained in the shadow of countrywoman Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann, a seven-time Olympic medalist. With a pregnant Niemann-Stirnemann out, it looked like Pechstein would finally claim the spotlight only to have Friesinger steal it away from her.

But instead of resenting Friesinger's high profile, Pechstein welcomed it.

"It was a big advantage for me," she said. "Anni was everywhere. Always talking to press, to the public. She had so much pressure."

Friesinger had promised to buy all 4,500 residents of her hometown of Inzell a beer if she won gold. The town would have to take a rain check until at least next Sunday's 1,500.

Pechstein turns her attention toward winning a third consecutive Olympic 5,000. She was asked if she would consider posing nude.

"No," she said, "I think I have helped my image enough today."

Copyright 2002
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