Russian curling medallist Alexander Krushelnitsky has been banned for four years in a doping case which cost his country 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, 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."
Russian athletes were not allowed to compete under their own flag in Pyeongchang, South Korea as punishment for past doping offences. Krushelnitsky's doping case and another involving a bobsledder helped delay the lifting of the sanction until after the closing ceremony.
