Team Japan¡¯s speedskaters suffered another unexpected blow Tuesday after it was announced that Kei Saito had withdrawn from competition after testing positive for a banned substance. Saito denied that doping was intentional, but he has accepted the provisional suspension and left the Olympic village to minimize the ¡°disturbance¡± to his teammates.
Japan¡¯s remaining medal hopes rest with underdogs: Ayumu Hirano in the men¡¯s halfpipe, Nao Kodaira in the ultra-competitive 1000m women¡¯s speedskating event, and even Yuzuru Hanyu, whose projected finish in men¡¯s figure skating has been downgraded to silver by one analytics firm.
But anything can happen.
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