Sergeeva has since left the Olympics and handed back her credentials after the positive test, opting not to open a B-sample used to confirm the original, Russia's TASS news agency reported on Saturday. That makes four doping cases at the Pyeongchang Olympics, two of which have been Russians. Earlier in the week, Russian curler Alexander Krushelnitsky tested positive for meldonium, a different type of heart medication banned for its performance-enhancing benefits. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video The concern for Russia, of course, is what that means for Sunday.

The International Olympic Committee had technically barred Russia from these Winter Games after the doping mess in Sochi, then allowed 168 athletes who passed a (supposedly) comprehensive vetting process to compete wearing neutral uniforms as Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR). If any won a gold, the Olympic anthem would be played and Olympic flag raised. The carrot was that, if all went well, the IOC would allow the Russian flag to fly Sunday at the Closing Ceremony - symbolic of the nation's return to the Olympic movement. Krushelnitsky initially refuted his positive test and filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which set up special panels of judges to hear cases in Pyeongchang. But the case suddenly was dropped and Krushelnitsky accepted the test's result, agreeing to forfeit the bronze medal he won in the mixed curling event with his wife. Norway will be awarded the medal instead in a special ceremony this weekend. That, many speculated, was done to appease the IOC in exchange for Russia's inclusion in the Closing Ceremony. The IOC's executive board is expected to make a final decision Saturday.

The optics of a positive test by someone wearing a "I don't do drugs" sweatshirt, you'd think, isn't going to help Russia's cause. "This won't win us any extra credit," Stanislav Pozdnyakov, the leader of Russia's delegation in South Korea, told Russian media. "Unfortunately this case speaks to negligence by the athlete. She has let us down." Slip up: The two-woman OAR bobsleigh crew finished 12th in the women's bobsleigh competition on 21 February 2018. Credit:Zsolt Czegledi Zubkov initially told the Associated Press that Sergeeva, who finished 12th in the two-woman bobsled, denied ingesting trimetazdine and was clean in a Feb. 13 test, five days before her urine came back positive. He also indicated they would appeal. Trimetazdine has not triggered nearly as many doping positives as meldonium, which resulted in a 15-month ban for Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova. The most famous case involved Chinese swimmer Sun Yang, who received only a three-month ban in May 2014. He returned for the 2016 Olympics in Rio and won a gold medal in the 200-meter freestyle.

Sun claimed he took trimetazdine to treat heart palpitations, and Zhao Jia, the head of China's anti-doping agency, was quoted saying the swimmer "proved with sufficient evidence that he did not intend to cheat, which helped reduce his ban to three months." The controversy sparked an international incident in Rio when Australian swimmer Mack Horton referred to Sun as a "drug cheat," eliciting incendiary commentaries from Chinese media about Australia and a demand for a formal apology from Chinese Olympic officials. Meanwhile, Russia won its first medal at these Games when the 15-year-old Zagitova became the second youngest champion in women's figure skating. When she was asked her feelings on the Olympic flag and anthem replacing Russia's at the medal ceremony, she responded: "Could I please not answer this question." The silver went to Evgenia Medvedeva, who was among the Russian athletes who made personal pleas to the IOC to allow their participation in Pyeongchang. She was asked the same question, and answered it. "This is a good question," Medvedeva said in Russian after the 1-2 finish in one of the Winter Games' marquee events. "I do want to answer it, but I need to think about it. I want to answer it correctly. Several times I have said it doesn't matter what the circumstances are. People know who we are. Today we proved ourselves here."

The website Inside the Games reported Wednesday that IOC President Thomas Bach met with a key aide of Russian premier Vladimir Putin and there was a "growing confidence" it was a positive sign about Russia's participation Sunday. Loading In response, the Institute of National Anti-Doping Organizations (iNADO) issued an open letter to the IOC and its OAR Implementation Group saying that "should the IOC lift the suspension of (Russia) at the commencement of the Closing Ceremony, we suspect the clean athletes of the world would be outraged." It continued: "Who deserves your support more? An organization from a supremely powerful and accomplished country which over multiple Games took doped teams and to this day has offered no apology or evidence of attempts to reconcile? Or, is it the multitudes of athletes who were deprived of their Olympic moments and who rightfully expect proportional punishment for doping transgressions?" McClatchy