Anchor: A Russian athlete has again tested positive for an illegal performance enhancement drug. The Russian, who won a bronze medal in mixed doubles curling, vehemently denied the charges and called for an immediate investigation.
Our Park Jong-hong has the details.

Report: For the second time, a doping test on the same Russian athlete returned positive results for a banned drug and sports authorities are getting ready to take disciplinary measures.

This follows an announcement in Moscow, Tuesday which confirmed that the second blood sample of Russian curler Alexander Krushelnitsky was found with traces of the banned substance meldonium.

Krushelnitsky, who had won a bronze medal in the mixed doubles event at the PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games strongly denied the charge and urged authorities to promptly investigate why such a substance ended up in his blood sample.

He is set to face a Court of Arbitration for Sport hearing in the near future.

Russian Sports Minister Pavel Kolobkov came to Krushelnitsky’s defense, saying the athlete could not have taken a banned drug deliberately.

In an interview with the Russian media, he said it does not make any sense.

This setback comes at a delicate time when Russia has been getting negative publicity for its systemic doping scandal in the previous Sochi Winter Olympics.

Under a suspension by the International Olympic Committee(IOC), Russian athletes were forced to compete as individuals designated as ‘Olympic Athletes from Russia’ at the PyeongChang Games. 

The IOC is slated to decide on Saturday whether to allow the athletes to display the Russian flag during the march at the closing ceremony on Sunday.
Park Jong-hong, KBS World Radio News.