The doping case of the Russian curler Alexander Kruschelnizki is official. The doping chamber of CAS confirmed that Kruschelnizki had also been positively tested in the B-sample for the forbidden heart drug Meldonium. CAS ruled him out of the games.
Whether the curling team of “Olympic Athletes from Russia” will have to return the bronze medal, which Kruschelnizki and his wife Anastassija Brysgalowa won in the mixed competition, is not yet certain. This decision is the responsibility of the International Olympic Committee IOC and the World Curling Federation WCF, CAS announced.
The athlete has “accepted a temporary suspension beyond the period of the Games and reserves the right to apply for the suspension or reduction of a suspension upon completion of the Games if there is no fault or negligence”, the CAS wrote.
The third case of doping in the winter games in Pyeongchang was the Japanese short-tracker Kei Saito with the masking substance acetazolamide and the Slovenian hockey player Ziga Jeglic with the forbidden asthma drug fenoterol.
It is still unclear whether the case will have an impact on a possible suspension of the Russian National Olympic Committee before Sunday’s closing ceremony.