Russia Launches Probe, Say Curler Doping Makes No Sense

Russian sports minister says it is hard to process curling medalist Aleksandr Krushelnitckii's positive drug test for meldonium – a drug that aids endurance.

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The Russian is the first curler to fail a doping test at an Olympic event. The Russian Olympic committee posted a letter to its website expressing “sincere regrets” for the incident.

“We completely share and support the position of the International Olympic Committee and the World Anti-Doping Agency in terms of zero tolerance for doping and are taking all necessary measures for those who are guilty to be held as responsible as possible,” the statement read.

The organization added that an investigation had been launched to determine how the substance entered the athlete's system.

“He guarantees that he doesn’t use meldonium,” Andrei Sozin, a director at Russia’s curling federation, told the TASS news agency. “He is ready for any probe and we trust him.”

Russian officials said a Jan. 22 test ruled out any systematic use of the drug, before pointing out that the meldonium dosage found in Krushelnitckii's body suggests a single use of the drug. The curler has denied any wrongdoing.

“Only a person devoid of common sense can use any kind of doping, and especially (through drugs) like meldonium, ahead of the Olympics where testing is at its highest level,” he said in a statement published on Tuesday on the website of the Russian curling federation.

Russian Sports Minister Pavel Kolobkov, on Tuesday, said the athlete could not have taken a banned drug deliberately. “It’s obvious that in this particular case, the athlete could not have intentionally used a prohibited substance, it just does not make any sense,” the minister to TASS news agency.

“Curling, in theory, is not the kind of sport in which dishonest athletes dope,” he added.

According to authorities, Krushelnitckii had twice tested positive for the banned substance. Moscow now faces a new hurdle in its bid to have Russia's Olympic privileges reinstated, following a major doping scandal which emerged from the 2014 Sochi Games.

Last December, Russia was slapped with an indefinite suspended by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) which prevented its athletes from representing the country at the Games. The IOC said it would review Russian sports officials and athletes before making a decision regarding any reinstatement. Russia has been accused of running a state-backed systematic doping program.

Krushelnitckii took home Russia's first medal in the sport, a bronze mixed-doubles with his wife, at the Pyeongchang Winter Games.

The Russian delegation is competing as “Olympic Athletes from Russia,” but prevented from wearing national colors or using the flag, at the Winter Games.

Krushelnitsky is scheduled to face a Court of Arbitration for Sport hearing.

World Curling Federation spokesman Cameron MacAllister said it was the first occurrence in an Olympic competition.