I should imagine if you have been taking a drug for 10years you would not be able to stop taking it overnight, she would have been better off telling the authority's that she was taking it before it was banned, instead of just carrying on and ignoring e-mails etc.
Remember a few years ago when a Brit snowboarder won a medal which was taken away when he failed a drugs test. Turned out he got a prescription asthma inhaler in the country which was the same as the one he usually got here, but the ingredients were different and contained a banned substance. Governing body fully accepted his explanation and didn't ban him but still took the medal away. These things can happen.
Remember a few years ago when a Brit snowboarder won a medal which was taken away when he failed a drugs test. Turned out he got a prescription asthma inhaler in the country which was the same as the one he usually got here, but the ingredients were different and contained a banned substance. Governing body fully accepted his explanation and didn't ban him but still took the medal away. These things can happen.
Remember a few years ago when a Brit snowboarder won a medal which was taken away when he failed a drugs test. Turned out he got a prescription asthma inhaler in the country which was the same as the one he usually got here, but the ingredients were different and contained a banned substance. Governing body fully accepted his explanation and didn't ban him but still took the medal away. These things can happen.
Clearly cheating - staged managed, carefully scripted press conference a healthy 28 year old athlete taking a medicine for heart failure - for ten years!
Apparently the drug involved was only put on the banned list this year and Sharapova claims she has been taking it for 10 years under prescription. None the less she's been caught so has to serve the time. As a side note I find Sharapova one of the most charmless sportswoman ever, a one dimensional (albeit very good) player.
I should imagine if you have been taking a drug for 10years you would not be able to stop taking it overnight, she would have been better off telling the authority's that she was taking it before it was banned, instead of just carrying on and ignoring e-mails etc.
Don't put her in the same category as Katrien - I quite like Maria and feel quite sorry for her
Clearly cheating - staged managed, carefully scripted press conference a healthy 28 year old athlete taking a medicine for heart failure - for ten years!
What's interesting for me is, she wasn't technically cheating till 01 January 2016. I expect many athletes look at substances not on the banned list which have the potential to increase red blood cells or muscle growth or whatever, and simply take it till it gets put on the list. If she had just stopped early she should would have got away with it.
I don't buy the line that she was taking it for health purposes. It's not FDA approved and she hasn't lived in Russia for years. In a weird way, I do believe that she's been caught by an admin error, but I don't believe for one second her reasoning for taking the substances.
She was cheating. Taking a substance that was banned. I don't believe for one minute that she doesn't have someone who looks at every single substance she puts in her mouth that isn't beetroot soup. I bet there are a lot of "tennis stars" that will be shitting themselves right now.
She was cheating. Taking a substance that was banned. I don't believe for one minute that she doesn't have someone who looks at every single substance she puts in her mouth that isn't beetroot soup. I bet there are a lot of "tennis stars" that will be shitting themselves right now.
WADA are often two steps behind the drugs cheats but now they've caught up with this little Meldonium wheeze.
Sharapova has been cheating for years and now thanks to her bad admin she's been caught. I hope they throw the book at her (for that bare-faced lying press conference if nothing else).
It seems the people who have taken the trouble to look at the details smell a rat. I haven't and her story seemed plausible, but if they smell a rat, there might be one here!
A guy who was, until recently, Director General of a world wide anti-drug agency for 13 years overseeing many sports including the Olympics and tennis etc - was interviewed recently on NZ talkback.
Maria Sharapova only took her pills before grand slams and there is no way she should be allowed back on a tennis court.
Comments
Governing body fully accepted his explanation and didn't ban him but still took the medal away.
These things can happen.
I'm not buying her story one bit.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/35754677
Never known a drug cheater to be applauded by their fellow pros like this!!!
It looks like deliberate cheating to me. She should be sued for her lifetimes winnings by the governing body.
I don't buy the line that she was taking it for health purposes. It's not FDA approved and she hasn't lived in Russia for years. In a weird way, I do believe that she's been caught by an admin error, but I don't believe for one second her reasoning for taking the substances.
Sharapova has been cheating for years and now thanks to her bad admin she's been caught. I hope they throw the book at her (for that bare-faced lying press conference if nothing else).
Maria Sharapova only took her pills before grand slams and there is no way she should be allowed back on a tennis court.