Suspected Russian case

Russian officials have requested security camera footage to defend Olympic curler Aleksandr Krushelnitckii, who is suspected of failing a doping test.

The results of Krushelnitckii's B sample to confirm the original result came back positive and the OAR are athlete has released a statement apologizing, describing it as "a huge blow both in reputation and in career."

"First of all, I want to apologize to my partners on the Olympic team, our delegation and all the fans for not being able to protect ourselves and Nastya from the problems that we faced today," it read.

"I'm very sorry that the previous victory of Russian curling has now become the subject of a doping scandal, which is doing immense harm to our sport and to all Russian sports in general.

"At the same time, I am ready to openly state that I have never, ever during my time participating in sport,ever used forbidden drugs and any other dishonest ways of competition in competitive sport."

The Russian Curling Federation is already taking steps to defend Krushelnitckii, who won bronze in the mixed double curling event.

"We have filed an application to the Investigative Committee (of Russia) to probe the case," the federation's vice-president Andrei Sozin told Russian state-controlled news agency TASS on Monday.

"We have also requested data from video cameras in Japan and South Korea to show who entered the premises and so on."

Sozin told TASS Russian authorities had a "clear understanding" that Krushelnitckii had not taken part in doping.

"He guarantees that he does not use meldonium and is ready for any probe and we trust him," Sozin said. "This drug is absent from the doctor's medicine box and from him."

The Court of Arbitration for Sport opened an investigation into the Russian at the request of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) after Krushelnitckii's A sample tested positive for doping.

A hearing date has not been set, the statement said.

Russia was banned from the 2018 Winter Olympic Games following state-sponsored doping, leading up to and including the 2014 Sochi Winter Games.

But more than 160 Russian athletes were allowed to compete, provided they could prove they were clean from doping, under the banner of Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR).