Aleksandr Krushelnitckii is expected to resume his curling career in 2022 ©Getty Images

Russian curler Aleksandr Krushelnitckii will resume his career when his doping ban expires, according to Russian Curling Federation President Dmitry Svishchev.

Krushelnitckii and his wife Anastasia Bryzgalova were stripped of their Olympic mixed doubles bronze medals as a result of the positive test for heart-attack drug meldonium at the Games.

The duo, part of the neutral Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR) delegation at Pyeongchang 2018, lost their medal after an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) was dropped.

It was believed that the case was dropped as part of a deal for Russia to march under their own flag at the Closing Ceremony.

The CAS anti-doping division handed Krushelnitckii a four-year ban from the sport, with the Russian opting to withdraw an appeal against the sanction last year.

Krushelnickii’s ban is due to expire on February 12 in 2022, with the Russian set to miss the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, which is due to get underway on February 4 and conclude on February 20.

Svishchev told the Russian official state news agency TASS that Krushelnitckii will return to the sport following the conclusion of his ban.

The official also repeated the claims that Krushelnitckii had been sabotaged at a pre-Olympic Games training camp.

Aleksandr Krushelnitckii and wife Anastasia Bryzgalova were forced to hand back their Olympic bronze medals they had won at Pyeongchang 2018 following the case ©Getty Images
Aleksandr Krushelnitckii and wife Anastasia Bryzgalova were forced to hand back their Olympic bronze medals they had won at Pyeongchang 2018 following the case ©Getty Images

"I regularly contact Sasha and his wife, the person has still not burned out, wants to return to the big sport,” Svishchev said.

"I believe in him, I believe that he will return.

"He is a purposeful fighter who wants to prove to everyone he had nothing to do with that unpleasant incident.

"I believe that this is either sabotage against him or sloppiness, I am inclined to the first option."

"Alexander is preparing to resume training in a year, the legislation allows it.

"“In a year and a half, he plans to resume playing at competitions."

The bronze medals stripped from the Russian pair following the failed test were awarded to Norway's Kristin Skaslien and Magnus Nedregotten, who they had beaten in a playoff.

Krushelnitckii was one of two athletes representing the OAR team to fail drugs tests at Pyeongchang 2018.

Russian bobsleigh athlete Nadezhda Sergeeva accepted an eight-month suspension in October following her positive test for trimetazidine, a drug usually used to treat angina.