Reigning Olympic speedskating champion Claudia Pechstein has lost her appeal to be allowed to compete at next month's Vancouver games. Switzerland's Supreme Court has refused to suspend a two-year ban, imposed last year, after Pechstein's blood tests showed abnormal readings.

Pechstein, who insists she has never taken banned substances, has been trying to overturn the ban, which was upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) last November. The International Skating Union (ISU) had imposed the ban in July 2009.

"This decision comes as no surprise," her lawyer Simon Bergmann said in a statement. "We will now focus on the appeal. We obviously cannot enforce a participation in the Games but we can hopefully have the ban lifted."

Pechstein is Germany's most successful winter athlete, with five gold, two silver and two bronze medals under her belt. She has said in the past that she was prepared to take her case all the way to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

ng/dpa/AFP
Editor: Rob Turner