Russian Nikita Tregubov: "They scold us without evidence."GETTY IMAGES
Russian and American skeleton racers are "refusing to speak to each other" at the Pyeongchang Games in a "spat that centers on allegations of widespread Russian doping." Two athletes from Russia and an American skeleton racer said on Tuesday that there was "no contact between them, mostly because of the underlying tensions surrounding Russian athletes' presence at the Games" (REUTERS, 2/13).
Japanese speed skater Kei Saito is the "first athlete to be excluded from the 2018 Winter Olympics for a doping violation." Saito failed an out-of-competition doping test prior to the Games, the Court of Arbitration for Sport said. The 21-year-old "left the athletes' Olympic Village voluntarily but insists he is innocent" (BBC, 2/13).
Dozens of Olympic staff who are locked up at a remote youth training facility due to norovirus infection "blamed the organizers for the spread of the sickness in Gangwon Province," accusing them of "irresponsible action." Five support staff at the facility said that they had "heard from no one when they should get back to work or be released from quarantine." They described "lax quarantine procedures, with little to stop people coming and going from the facility" (KOREA HERALD, 2/13).
Some Russian athletes who were banned from participating in the Pyeongchang Games "will have an opportunity to go for glory after all, if on a much smaller -- and more local -- scale." Russian PM Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree to hold "alternative" competitions in Russia for athletes who were not allowed to "give it a go in South Korea." The competitions will include speed skating, short-track speed skating, biathalon, skiing and bobsleigh and "will apparently take place right after" the Olympics (SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, 2/12).
Athletes competing in the Winter Olympics have been handed 110,000 condoms -- a "record number" for the Games. It works out to roughly 38 condoms each and "gives competitors enough opportunity to heat up what could be the coldest" Winter Games in 20 years. Manufacturer Convenience donated most of the condoms but does not "expect the athletes to use them all" (BBC, 2/13).
