Russian Curlers Forfeit Medal After Doping Violation

Russian curler Aleksandr Krushelnitckii and his playing partner wife Anastasia Bryzgalova were stripped of their bronze medal in mixed pairs after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled him guilty of doping on Thursday, ABC reports.

Bryzgalova did not test positive. Norway, which finished fourth, is expected to be given the bronze medal.

It has been reported that Krushelnitckii tested positive for meldonium, a banned substance, and the same one that Maria Sharapova tested positive for in 2016, according to The Guardian.

According to the CAS statement, Krushelnitckii admitted to the anti-doping violation. No information was provided on whether Krushelnitckii — who is competing as a member of Olympic Athletes from Russia due to the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee — had purposefully taken meldonium, a potential performance-enhancing drug that has been prohibited for athlete use since 2016.

In a statement to the Russian news agency TASS, Krushelnitckii wrote "having weighed up the pros and cons, I decided to withdraw my case from CAS. I believe that a hearing would be useless under the current rules." With the evidence he admits "it would be stupid to deny it after two tests proved positive."'

"The samples tested had been collected during the Olympic Games and I am ready to face the verdict that is usually announced in such cases," he added.

Krushelnitckii competed at the 2018 Winter games with his wife in the mixed curling doubles. The couple won the bronze medal.

Meldonium's main use is to treat ischaemia, which is a lack of blood flow to parts of the body, particularly in cases of heart failure or angina. However, athletes have been known to use it to enhance their abilities. It does so by "carrying more oxygen to muscle tissue."

In December of 2017, it was reported that the entirety of Russia's Olympic team had been banned from competing in the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

According to reports, the International Olympic Committee handed down this punishment to the Russian team as a result of discovering "systematic doping" that they believe to be state-backed.

Russian officials are also barred from attending the games, the Russian flag is not being flown or displayed, and the Russian anthem will not be played, per a New York Times story.

However, Russian athletes are not completely prohibited from competing, as some have received special dispensation. They are competing while wearing a neutral uniform and if they win any medals the official Olympic records will not reflect as Russian state wins, rather they are marked as wins for "Olympic Athletes from Russia."

Additionally, Thomas Bach, the president of the International Olympic Committee, revealed that there will be a special ceremony to re-distribute the medals that were awarded at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.

This is due to the Russian athletes being stripped of their medals from those games after the mass doping discovery.

Officials from Russia have argued that the country has been trying to reverse the doping issue and they deserve a second chance, as well as help from the Olympic Committee to solve the problem.

Vitaly Stepanov, one of the chief whistle-blowers in Russia's alleged doping scheme, disagreed with the claims that Russia was trying to resolve the situation. "The world knows that hundreds of Olympic dreams have been stolen by the doping system in the country where I was born," Mr. Stepanov wrote. "The evidence is clear, that the doping system in Russia has not yet been truly reformed."

Contributing: Stephen Andrew