'Robbed of moment of glory': Norwegian curlers want special medal ceremony

The Norwegian curlers who missed out on a bronze medal due to Russian doping want Winter Olympics organisers to hold a new podium ceremony for them in Pyeongchang because they feel “robbed of their moment of glory”.

Norway’s team of Magnus Nedregotten and Kristin Skaslien finished fourth in the tournament last week, having lost their bronze medal match 8-4 to the Olympic Athletes of Russia team last week.

However Russian curler Alexander Krushelnitsky was on Monday charged with a doping offence after testing positive for meldonium, and is now likely to be stripped of the mixed curling bronze medal won with his wife Anastasia Bryzgalova.

And Negregotten says that if Krushelnitsky’s ban is confirmed, then he would like International Olympic Committee to hold a new ceremony before the Games end on Sunday.

“Knowing that they may have had an advantage against us in our games through cheating feels horrible,” he said. “If he is found guilty, then they’ve robbed us of our moment of glory, receiving our medal in the stadium. That’s not cool. That’s hard to accept, feeling that you’ve been kept out of the light.

“Obviously he is not guilty before he is convicted. But it is confirmed, the preferred option for us would be to receive the bronze medal at some point during the remainder of the Olympics.”

Many people have been sceptical that taking performance enhancing drugs could help curlers play better. However Negregotten said he believed they could make a substantial difference in alleviating tiredness.

“Based on what I’ve read, [some substances] can make you less stressed, make your recovery faster, and increase oxygen flow through your heart,” he said.

“The Olympic competition was quite different to other events because we had so little time to recover, and it’s quite hard for a male sweeper in mixed doubles. You have to follow and sweep every rock, and your muscles actually get quite sore and torn with all the work during that tight playing schedule.

He added: “I know in my case I would have liked to be more fresh in some of those games and have more energy, at least mentally.

“It especially could have benefited the Russians as they had a really late game when they lost their semi-final, and then they were playing early the next morning against us in the bronze match.

“Also, if you’re cheating, knowing that you have an advantage would give you a mental boost, and that feeling could be just as much of an advantage as the actual physical reaction.”