The German speed skater and five-fold Olympic gold medalist Claudia Pechstein was banned for two years in 2009 for alleged blood doping, based on irregular levels of reticulocytes in her blood and the assumption that these levels were always highest during competitions. Her mean reticulocyte count over the ten years from 2000 to 2009 was 2.1% during top events like Olympic Games and during world championships. At world cup races the mean reticulocyte was 1.9% and during training phases 2.0%. The Court of Arbitration for Sport confirmed the ban in November 2009 in stating: "...once the possibility of a blood disease has been safely excluded...".