"I am ready to openly say that during my sports career I have never used prohibited substances or any other unfair methods of competition. I am categorically against doping and have always tried to follow all the anti-doping rules. My positive test has not only been a shock for Anastasia [Bryzgalova] and me, it has been a great blow to my reputation and career… That is why I am more than others interested in the investigation into the incident as extensively as possible," Krushelnitckii said, as quoted by the Russian Curling Federation.
The statement followed the announcement made on the Russian Olympic Committee's official website, saying that Krushelnitsky's second sample has been tested positive for meldonium and that the corresponding investigation had been launched into the issue.
However, this information has not been confirmed whether by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) or the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Krushelnitsky's Alleged Doping Use
The ROC's statement was made after on Monday, the Anti-doping Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) initiated a procedure involving the Russian athlete, who earned a bronze medal along with his wife and partner Anastasia Bryzgalova at mixed doubles curling at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in South Korea’s Pyeongchang.
Commenting on the issue, Svetlana Zhurova, the first deputy chairman of the Russian parliament's lower house international affairs committee and former Russian speed skater, told Sputnik that there was no point in the one-time usage of the banned substance and said that the chemical may have been added to the athlete's food or drinks.
"We understand that it is pointless to take meldonium before the start of the competition: firstly, that is doping, secondly, there are more effective means of recovery, which were used by the athletes in the past two years. So why did the athlete use meldonium? That makes [me] suspicious that [the substance] could have been added [to his food or drinks]," Zhurova said.
READ MORE: Russian Athletes' Actions, Comments to Be Analyzed by IOC — Spokesman
Earlier in the day, the Russian Curling Federation said that it would appeal to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Organizing Committee of the 2018 Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, and the World Curling Federation.
"The Russian Curling Federation will appeal to the IOC, the Organizing Committee of Pyeongchang-2018, and the World Curling Federation with a request for assistance in the investigation on the case of Aleksandr Krushelnitckii. Namely, with the request to provide videos from surveillance cameras in the Olympic village, such a request will also be sent to the hotel in Japan, where athletes lived during training before the trip to the Winter Olympics," the FKR said in a statement.
"The Russian Curling Federation created a special commission to investigate this case, which has prepared and sent a statement to the Investigative Committee of Russia about the possibility of unknown persons having added prohibited substances into the food of the athlete, as his 11 doping tests include 10 clean, and only the last with a positive result," the statement adds.
Russian athletes are competing in the Winter Games under the Olympic flag because the Russian Olympic Committee was suspended over doping violations. The country's athletes were allowed to participate only if cleared by the International Olympic Committee. As a result, 168 Russian athletes are taking part in this year's Games.