Russian curler banned for 4 years in Olympic doping case

Russian curling medallist Alexander Krushelnitsky was banned for four years Tuesday in a doping case which cost Russia the right to fly its flag at the Winter Olympic closing ceremony this year.

Krushelnitsky won the bronze medal in mixed doubles with his wife Anastasia Bryzgalova — the first medal for Russian athletes at the Pyeongchang Games — but they were stripped of the result after he tested positive for the banned substance meldonium.

Krushelnitsky argued that he was spiked with meldonium by an unnamed third party but the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled the "arguments were not supported by reliable or credible evidence."

CAS didn't give Krushelnitsky any reduction on the standard four-year ban because he "could not establish that his use of meldonium was non-intentional."

Russian athletes were not allowed to compete under their own flag in Pyeongchang as punishment for past doping offenses. They had to pass extra vetting before the games and competed in neutral uniforms as "Olympic Athletes from Russia."

Krushelnitsky's doping case and another involving a bobsledder helped delay the lifting of the sanction until after the closing ceremony.

Russian Curling Federation president Dmitry Svishchev said Krushelnitsky planned to appeal.

"We disagree utterly with the ruling issued against our athlete and will wholeheartedly continue to support and defend his rights and to demand new investigations in this case both in Russia and abroad," he said in a statement.

Krushelnitsky has 21 days to appeal the ruling.

The other Russian who tested positive in Pyeongchang, bobsled pilot Nadezhda Sergeeva, accepted an eight-month ban in October. In that case, the International Bobsled and Skeleton Federation accepted her positive test for the heart medication was because she consumed a contaminated product.