Russian curlers to hand back bronze medals after positive doping test - TASS

FILE PHOTO - Curling – Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics – Mixed Doubles Bronze Medal Match - Olympic Athletes from Russia v Norway - Gangneung Curling Center - Gangneung, South Korea – February 13, 2018 - Alexander Krushelnitsky and Anastasia Bryzgalova, Olympic athletes from Russia, celebrate after winning the bronze. Picture taken February 13, 2018. REUTERS/Cathal McNaughton

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian curlers Alexander Krushelnitsky and Anastasia Bryzgalova will hand back the Olympic medals they won in Pyeongchang, the Russian news agency TASS reported, citing a Russian curling Federation spokeswoman.

Krushelnitsky, who won bronze in Pyeongchang with his wife Bryzgalova in mixed doubles curling, tested positive for meldonium, a drug that can aid endurance.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport said on Wednesday it would hear a case against Krushelnitsky on Thursday.

Curling – Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics – Mixed Doubles Bronze Medal Match - Olympic Athletes from Russia v Norway - Gangneung Curling Center - Gangneung, South Korea – February 13, 2018 - Alexander Krushelnitsky, an Olympic athlete from Russia, sweeps. Picture taken February 13, 2018. REUTERS/Cathal McNaughton

TASS quoted Krushelnitsky saying he "formally broke the anti-doping rules" and a spokeswoman for the curling federation said the admission made it certain they would return the medals won.

"The court would have made the decision to strip us of our medals anyway. But since we really admit the fact that his doping probe was positive for meldonium, we hand back the medals," TASS quoted Valentina Parinova as saying.

(Reporting by Maxim Rodionov; Editing by Toby Davis)