Russian Curler Faces Doping Hearing

(ATR) The Court of Arbitration for Sport has opened a case against Aleksandr Krushelnitckii after the Russian curler failed a drug test at the PyeongChang Olympics.

Krushelnitckii is one half of the Olympic Athletes of Russia (OAR) mixed curling team. The pair won the bronze medal at PyeongChang 2018.

Reports of Krushelnitckii’s failed doping test began circulating last night, after OAR officials confirmed that the team had been notified of a doping violation. Krushelnitckii’s name had not been confirmed by the officials since there had not been a test of his B-sample.

"Further to a request from the International Olympic Committee, the CAS ADD has initiated a procedure involving the athlete Aleksandr Krushelnitckii (mixed curling; OAR)," CAS said in a statement. "No hearing date has been fixed yet and no further information will be provided at this point."

Krushelnitckii's case is the second doping positive of the 2018 Winter Olympics. But this case will certainly be higher profile. Krushelnitckii has reportedly left PyeongChang; he will travel to Seoul for his hearing. If CAS upholds the doping violation, he will be forced to surrender his accreditation and leave the country.

The Russian reportedly tested positive for Meldonium in his A-sample. The drug has been banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency since 2016, but was common among Russian athletes. It is very easy to detect and stays in an athlete's system for a long time. Russian media reported that Krushelnitckii passed a doping test in mid-January before travelling to a final pre-Olympics camp.

The Kremlin weighed in with its response to the Russian curler's doping positive, calling for people not to make hasty judgments onKrushelnitckii until the B-sample is analysed.

"We call on everyone to wait for some official statements. You know that the IOC is cautious and careful in this situation," Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted by state news agency TASS."Let’s wait for the B-sample and wait for some probe that will inevitably occur in this situation."

The results of the CAS hearing will be reviewed by the three-person OAR review panel chaired by IOC Executive Board member Nicole Hoevertsz. The panel will decide if Russia have met the criteria to be reinstated to walk in the closing ceremony under their own flag.

Factoring into the decision will also be whether Russia pays the $15 million fine owed to the IOC for the strategic manipulation of the Sochi 2014 anti-doping process. It has yet to be paid.

OAR press attaché Konstantin Vybornov did not explicitly comment on whether or not a failed doping test in PyeongChang would jeopardize the country’s good standing with the IOC. He hinted there is worry any time any athlete gets caught doping.

"In every situation every positive doping test could damage the reputation of a sportsman or a federation or national sport," Vybornov said. "Every case, concerning every country, so there is nothing positive in [the situation]."

This morning, Olympic curlers in PyeongChang largely either ignored the rumors of a doping violation in their sport, or questioned why anyone would use performing enhancing drugs. Curling does not require the same athletic abilities as other sports in the Winter Olympics, although the athletes are in peak shape.

Danish captain Madeleine Dupont brushed off the notion that a confirmed positive sample would damage the reputation of curling. Unlike other competitors she took a lighthearted tone about the whole situation.

"I think most people will laugh," Dupont said. "And say ‘what do you possibly need doping for?’"

Written by Aaron Bauer in Gangneung

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