Russians take part in the Pyeongchang Games as a team «Olympic Athletes from Russia». Photo Credit: Carl Sandin/Sandin/Bildbyran via ZUMA Press
(Photo: dpa)
“Should the case be confirmed, the Judging Committee will take that into account,” said Mark Adams, spokesman for the International Olympic Committee. A spokesman for the Olympic athletes from Russia had previously confirmed a possible doping offense in the team.
According to Russian media, Alexander Kruschelnitsky, the bronze medal winner in the new mixed curling competition, was found to have taken the banned substance meldonium in the A sample. The B sample is to be opened on Monday.
Russia’s National Olympic Committee is currently suspended by the IOC over the systematic doping fraud at the 2014 home games in Sochi. In South Korea, the country’s athletes are only allowed to start under a neutral flag and without their own anthem. After a review, the IOC refused a number of top Russian stars to take part in the Olympics.
During the Winter Games, a commission chaired by IOC member Nicole Hoevertsz will examine whether the Russians are adhering to a previously defined code of conduct. On Saturday, the IOC executive, on the recommendation of the group of three, will decide whether the suspension of Russia’s NOC will be lifted and the Russians will be allowed to take part in the closing ceremony again under their own flag.
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“There are a number of conditions before they get a yes,” Adams said. One of the rules of conduct for the Russians involves observing anti-doping rules. If the IOC’s requirements are not met “in letter and in spirit,” “there will be consequences,” Adams said. “It would be very disappointing if the case is proven,” said the IOC spokesman.
Russia’s curling coach Sergey Belanov rejected the doping suspicion against Kruschelnitsky on Monday. “It would be stupid to take the same drug that caused so much fuss. Alexander is not stupid,” said Belanov. At least until 2014, meldonium was a common drug used for doping, especially in Russia. The World Anti-Doping Agency WADA had identified a high level of abuse of the substance in various sports and added the active substance to the list of banned substances that has been in force since January 1, 2016.
“In any situation, a positive doping test damages the reputation of an athlete, an association, a sporting nation,” said Konstantin Vybornov, spokesman for the OAR team. Krushelnitsky and his wife Anastasiya Bryzgalowa had secured third place in the mixed curling competition, which was held for the first time at the Winter Games. The 25-year-old told the newspaper “Sport-Express” about the first reports of suspected doping: “I don’t know anything.”
His curling teammate Viktoria Moiseyeva was shocked. “It hit us like a storm. We never thought that this would be possible in curling,” said Moiseyeva. Responding to rumors that another Russian athlete might have tampered with one of Krushelnitsky’s drinks, Moiseyeva said: “I can’t imagine anyone doing that and then being able to sleep peacefully at night. After all, he not only destroyed the life of an individual, but of the entire country.”
According to IOC Medical Director Richard Budgett, athletes from Russia were among the most tested athletes in the run-up to the games. The only doping case in Pyeongchang so far was the Japanese Kei Saito, in which the diuretic acetalozamide had been detected.
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