Unbelievable

[F-Dub]

She confronted it head on because there was no where to hide, it was an attempt at damage limitation plain and simple,
she came out and stood at the podium all contrite and remorseful hoping that her sad beautiful face would gain her some sympathy.
To top it all off the poor dear had to look at ugly carpet, she be ok if the hotel dont sue her aswell for dissing their premises.
It really stretches belief to expect us to believe that with the team of specalists , dieticians ,trainers coaches around her that nobody
would be on top of examining the revised list of banned substances which is reviewed every january.
She lives in Florida and im sure she has other doctors besides this good old family GP back in Russia that perscribed this drug for her
or perhaps she hops on a plane to Russia every time she needs to see a doctor., at the very least any other doctor should be aware of what medication she
was taking.
Also seeing as this drug is not licensed in the US where was she obtaining it and if she was bringing it into the country is it legal to do that
I fear Miss Sharapova has alot of questions to answer but her reputation is forever tarnished and the economic fallout is going to be huge
and outside of endorsments will probably affect her other buisness as well.
Whatever way the dice rolls now she will always be remembered from now on first of all for being a drug cheat

Oh my you do have a lot to say on this ......good for you.

[Rocker123]

I would give her credit for giving the press conference. Although her comment about the carpet was silly and damaging.

The reality is this drug was not banned until January 2016 so while it may have been sharp practice to use it, it wasn't illegal up to 31st December 2015. I am sure she wasn't the only one using it, the difference being that the others stopped using it in January.

Her error was, if she is to be believed, not copping on that it was now a banned substance. She and her "minders" made a massive error in not stopping the administration of the drug from January.

It is possible but unlikely that she genuinely didn't know it was now on the prohibited list. Either she or her doctor fucked up badly and she is in the poo now.

[ber]

I would give her credit for giving the press conference. Although her comment about the carpet was silly and damaging.

The reality is this drug was not banned until January 2016 so while it may have been sharp practice to use it, it wasn't illegal up to 31st December 2015. I am sure she wasn't the only one using it, the difference being that the others stopped using it in January.

Her error was, if she is to be believed, not copping on that it was now a banned substance. She and her "minders" made a massive error in not stopping the administration of the drug from January.

It is possible but unlikely that she genuinely didn't know it was now on the prohibited list. Either she or her doctor fucked up badly and she is in the poo now.

I have since learned that in fact when a substance is being put on the banned list there is in fact 3 months notice so that if a person is using something for a medical reason that they will have time to find an alternative(if possible) . This means that athletes would have been made aware as far back as September 2015 that this substance would be on the list on Jan 1st

[SteveB]

Ice dancer Ekaterina Bobrova, of Russia, said on Monday that she had tested positive for meldonium.
Ukrainian biathletes, Russian speed skater Pavel Kulizhnikov, and Russian cyclist Eduard Vorganov have tested positive for it since it was banned.

Russia's sports minister, Vitaly Mutko, said Tuesday that meldonium is popular among his country's athletes, and said he expected more could test positive for it.

This has come at a bad time for Maria. There is a backlash over the use of drugs in sport and Russia is in the middle of it. While there is no way to tell if she took it for medical or performance-enhancing reasons, most performance-enhancing substances were originally developed for purely medical reasons so that excuse could, and usually is, used when someone is caught.

[redforever]

Ice dancer Ekaterina Bobrova, of Russia, said on Monday that she had tested positive for meldonium.
Ukrainian biathletes, Russian speed skater Pavel Kulizhnikov, and Russian cyclist Eduard Vorganov have tested positive for it since it was banned.

Russia's sports minister, Vitaly Mutko, said Tuesday that meldonium is popular among his country's athletes, and said he expected more could test positive for it.

This has come at a bad time for Maria. There is a backlash over the use of drugs in sport and Russia is in the middle of it. While there is no way to tell if she took it for medical or performance-enhancing reasons, most performance-enhancing substances were originally developed for purely medical reasons so that excuse could, and usually is, used when someone is caught.

Do ya think I'd do this ice dancer wan

[annabel taylor]

You do know like that even fit people can suffer a heart condition how many fit people drop dead suddenly or young footballers etc

[SteveB]

You do know like that even fit people can suffer a heart condition how many fit people drop dead suddenly or young footballers etc

True.
But if Maria Sharapova had a heart condition she certainly couldn't play tennis at her level.

[justfrank44]

True.
But if Maria Sharapova had a heart condition she certainly couldn't play tennis at her level.

No? what about people like Fabrice Muamba, top athletes in their field. Now in his case he was unaware of any problems, but surely with proper supervision and medication, people with heart problems can compete. Not that I am excusing Maria S. but she is hardly in the same league as lance armstrong.

[SteveB]

If she was taking medication for a heart condition, she would have to be aware of that condition.
If she was aware, she would not be competing in international tennis.
This is not an argument she is making in any case.

[SteveB]

If a drug is banned, you cannot use it.

Beta-blockers were used by some snooker players because it steadied their hands. The drugs were banned. As a result some players who needed the drugs for a genuine heart condition were unable to play. “Big” Bill Werbeniuk, who tragically died in 1990, was a high-profile example.

The general talk from her fellow tennis players on the internet is that she was just careless and reckless and got caught. It is impossible that someone surrounded by so much advice, medical and other, did not know the list of banned drugs.
Especially a drug that is not proscribed in the US where we lives and could possibly be illegal, as well as banned for athletes.