Chernousov finished third in a home clean sweep of the Olympic medals in the 50 kilometres mass start cross-country event at Sochi 2014 behind Alexander Legkov and Maxim Vylegzhanin.

Both Legkov and Vylegzhanin have been stripped of their medals by an International Olympic Committee (IOC) Disciplinary Commission but have launched appeals to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne.

Chernousov, who has not been implicated so could be upgraded to gold, faced suggestions by coach Yuri Borodavko that he is an "anonymous informer" involved in the doping "conspiracy".

Borodavko, head coach of the Russian men's cross-country team, told gazeta.ru that Chernousov is "calm only for one reason", adding that he is "also in this conspiracy".

"He's maybe just one of those anonymous informers," he added.

It was thought that Chernousov's relationship with Gasparin - an individual silver medallist in Sochi - added to the sense of distrust felt by some in Russia.

There was also a sense of intrigue as to Chernousov's competitive intentions for the future. 

"He trains and prepares for the next races," Gasparin told Sport-Express.

"At the beginning of the season, he did not compete because of small health problems."

She denied that he had "slandered" any team-mates and claimed that he had decided to remain silent rather than respond in detail.

Gasparin also said that Chernousov is hoping to continue competing for Russia in the future.

Chernousov did also himself briefly reject the claims of Borodavko last month.

"I think you understand perfectly well that this is a bluff," the 31-year-old was quoted as saying on sibkray.ru.

"I'm at the training camp with the team, we have a busy training schedule.

"I would like to fully focus on the work now."

Russian athletes must compete neutrally at Pyeongchang 2018 - as "Olympic Athletes from Russia" - in response to a "systemic manipulation" of the anti-doping system at Sochi 2014.