Now to the Winter Games in South Korea, and Russia's sports minister is defending Olympic medalist Alexander Krushelnitsky after the athlete failed a drug test.

The minister said the curler could not have taken the banned substance intentionally - stressing how the sport calls for a steady hand and concentration rather than high levels of physical fitness. Earlier the Russian Olympic Committee confirmed the positive result and expressed its "deep regret". It added that it could not explain how the banned substance "meldonium" -- which helps endurance -- got into his bloodstream adding that it would launch its own investigation. Krushelnitsky, who won bronze with his wife in mixed-doubles curling, has left PyeongChang.