Russians’ mixed doubles bronze goes to Norway

Norway’s mixed doubles curling team will be presented Saturday night with the Olympic bronze medal that was stripped from the Russian team.

The International Olympic Committee said in a Twitter post that Kristin Skaslien and Magnus Nedregotten will receive their medals at the medals plaza in Pyeongchang. It’s a rare quick turnaround for such an instance.

Russian curler Alexander Krushelnitsky was stripped of his medal on Thursday after admitting to a doping violation during the games. He tested positive for the banned substance meldonium after placing third in mixed doubles with his wife, Anastasia Bryzgalova.

GANGNEUNG, South Korea — A second Russian athlete failed a doping test at the Pyeongchang Games, a day before the International Olympic Committee’s executive board is to decide whether to reinstate the country for Sunday’s closing ceremony.

Russian Bobsled Federation President Alexander Zubkov told The Associated Press on Friday that a drug-test sample given by Nadezhda Sergeeva on Sunday was positive.

The Russian delegation said in a statement the substance was trimetazidine, a medication used to treat angina. It affects metabolism and is banned by the World AntiDoping Agency.

“She confirms she took no such medication and the team confirms she was not issued any medication,” said Zubkov, a former bobsledder who was stripped of two Olympic gold medals for the Russian doping scheme at the 2014 Sochi Games. “Federation representatives at the Olympics” are starting to prepare a defense, he said.

Zubkov also said a sample she had given five days earlier was negative.

“I can tell you that on the 13th it was clean, but on the 18th it gave a positive result for the heart medication,” he said.

The IOC said later Friday it had been informed of the positive test by the Russian delegation.

Sergeeva’s crew finished 12th in the women’s bobsled Wednesday, after she had given the sample that later came back positive.

The Russian team was barred from the Olympics in December for doping at the Sochi Games, but the IOC invited 168 athletes from the country to compete under the Olympic flag. The IOC set out the criteria for Russia to be reinstated, and the latest doping cases are a setback.

“This won’t win us any extra credit,” Russian delegation leader Stanislav Pozdnyakov said in comments reported by Russian media. “Unfortunately this case speaks to negligence by the athlete. She has let us down.”

A group of influential antidoping organizations has urged the IOC not to reinstate Russia in time for the closing ceremony.