The first athlete from Russia is suspected of doping at the Winter Olympics. According to Russian media reports, among others from Sport-Express, the curler Alexander Kruschelnizki, who won bronze in the mixed competition with partner Anastassija Brysgalowa, is said to have won the bronze medal. He was reportedly tested positive for meldonium in the final. The blood circulation stimulant cardiac remedy has been available since the first day of pregnancy. January 2016 on the prohibition list.
Several Russian media quoted Konstantin Vybornov, the spokesman for the “Olympic Athletes from Russia” (OAR), for whom the curling duo officially started, in Pyeongchang on Sunday evening. He confirmed “that the leadership of our delegation has received an official message from the IOC regarding a possible violation of anti-doping rules. We will not mention the athlete’s name until the B-sample is open, which we expect within the next 24 hours.”
CAS, the International Court of Justice for Sport, did not want to comment at first on the request of the French news agency AFP. The opening of the B-sample is supposedly planned after the positive A-sample on Monday in the presence of Kruschelnizki. The Russian curlers had defeated Norway in the small final.
“I don’t know anything about all this,”Kruschelnitsky was quoted by Sport-Express, who added Russian curling coach Dimitri Melnikov:”Alexander took the remedy until 2016, when it was banned. Not since then. It was tested at the 2016 and 2017 World Championships, there were no problems. I hope it’s some kind of mistake.”
Dimitri Svishchev, President of the Russian Curling Federation, reacted with a wait-and-see attitude:”At the moment, we are still moving at the level of speculation. There is no official confirmation. Before I comment on something, I want to wait for the verified information,”he said. Svishchev recalled that there had been similar suspicions in the past, which had ultimately proved to be incorrect.
All decisions on a doping offence in Pyeongchang are made by the CAS Anti-Doping Unit. The local organising committee POCOG in cooperation with the leading “Doping-Free Sport Unit” of the association of all international sports federations has drawn up the test plan.
Among other things, tennis player Maria Scharapowa had been positively tested for melonium. The International Tennis Association had them on 8. June 2016 retroactive from 26. However, according to a CAS judgement, the penalty of the former world number one was reduced to 15 months.