Claudia Pechstein

Claudia Pechstein (born 22 February 1972) is a German speed skater.

With a total of five Olympic gold medals, two silver, and two bronze medals, she is the most successful Olympic Speedskater male and female in the world and also the most successful German Winter Olympian of all time. Pechstein is the first female Winter Olympian to win medals in five consecutive Olympics (1992–2006), and she won the gold medal in the women's 5,000 meter race in three consecutive Olympics (1994–2002), the bronze in the first (1992) and the silver medal in the fifth (2006). In the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, Pechstein also won a gold medal in the women's team pursuit. With 8 medals in individual singles events, she is the most sucessful German summer and winter Olympian both male and female.