Feb. 21, 2018: Nadezhda Sergeeva and Anastasia Kocherzhova, Olympic athletes from Russia, compete in the women’s bobsleigh heats at the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games.CLIVE MASON
A Russian bobsledder who tested positive for a banned substance at the Pyeongchang Olympics has admitted to doping and has been disqualified from the games.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport on Saturday said Nadezhda Sergeeva has accepted a provisional suspension but reserved her right "to seek the elimination or reduction" of her expected ban from competition.
Sergeeva, who wore a T-shirt at the start of the games that said "I don't do doping," was the second Russian to test positive at the Olympics. Curler Alexander Krushelnitsky also tested positive and returned his bronze medal from the mixed doubles competition. Krushelnitsky admitted to having meldonium in his doping samples despite denying that he knowingly took a banned substance.
Two other athletes have also tested positive at the Pyeongchang Games. Slovenian hockey player Ziga Jeglic and Japanese speedskater Kei Saito also left the games.
Sergeeva, who finished 12th in the women's bobsled, tested positive for Trimetazidine, a medication used to treat angina. It affects metabolism and is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
Russian athletes are competing under the Olympic flag in Pyeongchang after the country's national federation was suspended because of a doping scheme that tarnished the country's results at the 2014 Sochi Games.
Russia is waiting to hear if the International Olympic Committee will end the suspension and allow the country to march under its national flag at Sunday's closing ceremony.