The International Olympic Committee has said the Russians could march under their own flag and wear national colors for the closing ceremony if they meet several requirements, one of which included pledging to be faithful to the global antidoping code. A decision on Russia’s status is expected Saturday, the day before the closing ceremony.

The Russian doping controversy has strained relationships within the leadership ranks of the Olympics. Even before news emerged about Krushelnytsky’s failed test, several I.O.C. members had been privately suggesting that allowing Russia to restore its full status at the Pyeongchang Games risked appearing to appease Russia and could undercut efforts to play up the peacemaking presence of a North Korean delegation at the Games.

Russian athletes here have largely been keeping a low profile, avoiding social media as they attempt to win over the three-person I.O.C. panel responsible for deciding their country’s fate. Deprived of several stars who were banned after an investigation into the yearslong doping program, the Russian team — its members competing under the generic label Olympic Athlete From Russia — has struggled. The curling bronze that Krushelnytsky and his wife, Anastasia Bryzgalova, may soon forfeit is one of only 11 medals won by their nation four years after it topped the medals table at the Sochi Games. No Russian has won a gold in Pyeongchang.

In their statement Tuesday, Russian officials sought to tread a fine line between accepting responsibility for the doping violation and expressing doubts that Krushelnytsky had knowingly taken meldonium, a heart medicine that increases blood flow and has been banned from most sports since 2016. Krushelnytsky passed a drug test on Jan. 22 and several others before that, the Russian officials said. Meldonium, which in 2016 led to a long ban for the tennis star Maria Sharapova, usually stays in the system for months.

“We express our sincere regret over the fact of the incident,” the Russian officials said in their statement. “At the same time, the circumstances of the case do not provide any answers to the questions as to how and when meldonium could have gotten into the athlete’s body.”