

Alexander Krushelnitskiy, member of the Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR) participating in the Olympic Mixed Doubles Curling competition and Bronze medal winner with Anastasia Bryzgalova has reportedly failed a drug test for meldonium.



Russian website Sport-Express is reporting that the story that the B-sample will be tested to verify the result. Sport-Express is a prominent Russian daily sports that is the biggest-selling sports newspaper in Russia, with a daily audience of over 700,000 people.



Meldonium is a heart medication popular in Russia that has been used in the past as a preventative treatment for heavy training that athletes go through.



It was added to the banned list in January 2016 and was what tennis star Maria Sharapova had tested positive and served a 1-year suspension for.



In an interview with former President of Russian Curling Federation President Olga Andrianova, she told Sport-Express (translated from Russian) "I'm just discouraged by this news, I do not believe it. After the ban athletes meldonium was not used. Prior to this, doctors could give this drug while it was allowed. I'm sure one hundred percent that Krushelnytsky did not use this drug at the Olympics. I know him and Anastasia Bryzgalova very well, how high their motivation is and how well this athlete is physically ready. He does not need to reinforce himself with any drugs. For two years they took samples while he was on centralized training, and nothing was discovered either here or abroad."



According the Sport-Express, the B-sample will be tested tomorrow morning (Korea time) to verify the positive A-sample test.



There is no official word on the doping violation but sources reveal that no official statement likely will be made by the IOC until the second test is processed.



For more information (in Russian, use Google Chrome to translate), go here: http://www.sport-express.ru/tags-aleksandr-krushelnickiy-17798/