Russia in trouble over new doping case
Alexander Krushelnitsky, Russian bronze-medallist in curling, has tested positive for the banned heart medication meldonium. The head of the Russian Curling Federation has spoken of sabotage. For commentators the whole thing is a farce.
Russian athletes a laughing stock
This latest case of doping in mixed curling endangers Russia's rehabilitation after the Sochi doping scandal, journalist Anton Orech writes in Echo of Moscow:
“Everyone who is hostile to us, meaning practically the entire world, believes that doping in Russia starts with the baby bottle. ... Now nothing will come of the longed-for participation in the closing ceremony with the national flag and colours. The young couple, who were already being called the new face of Russian sport, will be stripped of their medal and become a laughing stock. ... Stupidity is even worse than crime. And nothing is more humiliating than being made a laughing stock - for example when everyone's saying that a Russian man can't even scrub the floor without doping.”
Olympic movement should be ashamed of itself
And for AP journalist Tim Dahlberg the doping case is proof that Russian athletes shouldn't have been allowed to compete in these Olympics. He writes in a commentary piece for BNS:
“The entire Olympic movement should feel ashamed by the fact that the curler who was doping is a Russian. In recent months the Olympic officials have stressed at every opportunity that the rest of the team from Russia had been thoroughly checked and there was no danger of any of them taking any forbidden substances. ... The fact remains that the Russians should have been kept away from the Olympic torch entirely. It was clear that they blatantly cheated everyone at the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi in order to win the most medals.”