PYEONGCHANG, South Korea _ Amid reports that a male Russian curler has tested positive for doping, officials at the 2018 Winter Olympics find themselves facing tough questions about the integrity of these Games.
A member of the Russian women's squad confirmed Monday that team officials had informed them of the situation.
"It was the main coach who came to tell us the news and we actually just read the news because it was pretty late at night and we were all in our rooms," curler Victoria Moiseeva told reporters. "We tried to fall asleep and it was a little hard."
"It's extremely disappointing for Russia if a case is proven," IOC spokesman Mark Adams said. "On the other hand, what it does show is that we have a system that is effective."
Alexander Krushelnitsky, who won the bronze medal in mixed-doubles curling with his wife, is suspected of having tested positive for meldonium, according to multiple news reports.
Meldonium has been in the news before _ scores of Russian athletes, including tennis star Maria Sharapova, have been found with the drug in their systems.
The pharmaceutical was developed to increase blood flow and has been used for treatment of heart ailments. That also would make it beneficial to athletes as a performance enhancer.
"We will never reach a point where we have no doped athletes," Adams said when asked if athletes from other countries should have confidence they are competing on a level playing field. "It's like saying we're going to do away with burglary or murder."
Russia was banned from the Olympics after multiple investigations found systemic cheating among its athletes, coaches and officials. There was additional evidence that Russian lab workers had tampered with samples to mask positive results.
The IOC subsequently announced that individual athletes who could prove they had competed cleanly would be invited to join an "Olympic Athletes from Russia" squad that would compete under a neutral flag.
With 169 athletes ultimately invited, some anti-doping authorities _ as well as athletes from other countries _ questioned the decision.
The IOC has been monitoring the OAR squad in Pyeongchang, Adams said, explaining that officials have been "looking throughout the Games at actions and deportment of the team and its officials."
Whenever drug testers detect a positive result from an "A" sample, they can test a separate "B" sample to confirm their initial finding. Results from that second examination were expected at some point Monday.
"We didn't talk to (Krushelnitsky)," Moiseeva said. "We thought that there are no words to comfort now. We just tried to stay away, not because we're afraid to say something."
If one of its athletes is caught cheating, the OAR squad could be barred from taking part in the closing ceremony on Sunday.
Adams declined to speculate on further sanctions, saying only that the IOC would continue to watch the contingent.
"There's running surveillance on that," he said. "Everything will be taken into account."
