A 2nd Russian athlete tests positive for doping at Olympics

GANGNEUNG, South Korea (AP) A second Russian athlete has failed a doping test at the Pyeongchang Games, a day before the International Olympic Committee's executive board is to decide whether to reinstate the country for Sunday's closing ceremony.

Russian Bobsled Federation president Alexander Zubkov told The Associated Press on Friday that a drug-test sample that pilot Nadezhda Sergeeva gave Sunday was positive.

The Russian delegation at the Pyeongchang Olympics said in a statement that the substance found was trimetazdine, a medication used for angina sufferers which is listed by the World Anti-Doping Agency as a banned substance affecting the metabolism.

Zubkov said Sergeeva "confirms she took no such medication and the team confirms she was not issued any medication."

He also said a sample she had given five days earlier was clean.

Sergeeva's crew finished 12th in the women's bobsled competition on Wednesday.

The Russian team was barred from the Olympics in December for doping at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, but the IOC invited 168 athletes from the country to compete under the Olympic flag.

Earlier this month, Sergeeva told the AP that competitors from other countries had warmed to her after she passed IOC vetting for Pyeongchang, which included an examination of her drug-testing history.

"I don't know why, but they've started talking to us more than ever before. I feel it. Maybe it's a sign to them that we're clean," Sergeeva said. "There's a lot of people coming up and saying, 'We're happy you're here.'"

It is the fourth doping case of the games. Russian curler Alexander Krushelnitsky was stripped of his bronze medal Thursday after testing positive for the banned substance meldonium. Slovenian hockey player Ziga Jeglic and Japanese speedskater Kei Saito also left the games after testing positive.

---

More AP Olympic coverage: https://wintergames.ap.org