Maria Sharapova fails drug test

blackcard

Maria Sharapova says she has been using this drug since 2006, it wasn't banned until last December. She is likely to be banned for 2 years which would maybe finish her career. Says she didn't check when she was notified of new drugs that came on to the banned list. I think there have been rumours of some players taking drugs for a while in tennis. Hard to know if this is the tip of an iceberg

justback83

Did not see this coming, I was sure she was gonna announce her retirement! What a huge loss for tennis, saw her playing live a few times in Melbourne, she was pretty intense!

Inquitus

This is just a cock up on her and her teams behalf, the drug only went on the banned list on Jan 1st a few weeks before the Aussie Open. Now it does open up a more interesting question about how many athletes are taking performance enhancing drugs that aren't banned like this one, "meldonium", as I am sure there's a lot of abuse of "legal" prescription medicines. But the long and the short of it was this was just carelessness, rather than willful drug cheating.

murphyebass

She said she should have known what was going into her body and should have looked at what was on the banned list for 2016.

So yeah read the list and don't take banned substances.

Pretty damn simple if you ask me.

She deserves to be forced into retirement.

The press conference by her was horrid too. She was asked to spell the drug and instead just repeated the name and then at the end has a go at the hotels carpet saying she wouldn't want to retire there.

Ban her and anyone else foolish enough to do what she did or worse.

Inquitus

murphyebass wrote: »

snip

I don't really care, I am strongly anti doping, but I do feel we should punish willful cheating harshly and stupidity a bit less harshly. And given the circumstances this is pure stupidity. Give her a 1 year ban and be done with it.

Halloween Jack

Inquitus wrote: »

This is just a cock up on her and her teams behalf, the drug only went on the banned list on Jan 1st a few weeks before the Aussie Open. Now it does open up a more interesting question about how many athletes are taking performance enhancing drugs that aren't banned like this one, "meldonium", as I am sure there's a lot of abuse of "legal" prescription medicines. But the long and the short of it was this was just carelessness, rather than willful drug cheating.

Nonsense, the drug isn't even approved for human use in the United States, where sharapova lives. If she was taking it for a medical problem her doctors could have easily written a TUE,she claims she's been taking it since '06, most of the clinical trials for this substance didn't start till '08. She's a cheat, end of.

murphyebass

Inquitus wrote: »

I don't really care, I am strongly anti doping, but I do feel we should punish willful cheating harshly and stupidity a bit less harshly. And given the circumstances this is pure stupidity. Give her a 1 year ban and be done with it.

She wilfully cheated by choosing not to read a list made available to her and all her sporting colleagues telling them in black and white what they can and can not take.

If I were and athlete taking medication as long term as she was if be checking that list the minute it comes out as I know how much it means to my career if it changes for whatever reason.

So yeah she cheated and should be banned in my opinion long term to deter others from using the same flakey excuse.

There is no place in tennis or any other sport for drugs. It should be clean and fair.

Without or with light penalty it just continues because there's no fear and the cost of greatness outweighs the sentence.

Inquitus

Halloween Jack wrote: »

Nonsense, the drug isn't even approved for human use in the United States, where sharapova lives. If she was taking it for a medical problem her doctors could have easily written a TUE,she claims she's been taking it since '06, most of the clinical trials for this substance didn't start till '08. She's a cheat, end of.

Well cheating is only cheating if its on the banned list, I do not doubt that 100's or perhaps 1000's of athletes were taking his drug, and many other athletes are taking other non WADA listed prescription drugs. As I said that's a different moral question, is taking "Legal" prescription drugs cheating, and I believe it is, but it is within the rules. What she did was careless in taking something that had just been banned. Rules are rules and cheating is only defined by what's on the WADA banned list, not by what you and I might define cheating. I think a one year ban is sufficient in this case.

murphyebass

Inquitus wrote: »

Well cheating is only cheating if its on the banned list, I do not doubt that 100's or perhaps 1000's of athletes were taking his drug, and many others taking others. As I said that's a different moral question, is taking "Legal" prescription drugs cheating, and I believe it is, but it is within the rules. What she did was careless in taking something that had just been banned. Rules are rules and cheating is only defined by what's on the WADA banned list, not by what you and I might define cheating.

So because many others do it that makes it ok?

And more importantly cheating is when you are still taking the drug that is on the list.

Whether it was fine to do before or not is completely irrelevant.

Rules change. Athletes need to keep up with them or be punished.

blackcard

Every athlete that fails a test has some excuse. My belief ended with Michelle Smith. Even the fact that she is good looking can't convince me that Maria is an innocent party in this

milehip

murphyebass wrote: »

The press conference by her was horrid too. She was asked to spell the drug and instead just repeated the name and then at the end has a go at the hotels carpet saying she wouldn't want to retire there.

Ban her and anyone else foolish enough to do what she did or worse.

Anyone got a link plz? Sounds fun.

murphyebass

blackcard wrote: »

Every athlete that fails a test has some excuse. My belief ended with Michelle Smith. Even the fact that she is good looking can't convince me that Maria is an innocent party in this

She came across like a spoilt child in that conference in my opinion especially with her carpet comment at the end.

I get you wouldn't want to retire in a hotel but to comment on their carpet was just childish.

Bottom line as you say though they always have an excuse.

It's black and white. She cheated and should be banned and made an example of.

murphyebass

milehip wrote: »

Anyone got a link plz? Sounds fun.

I watched it sky's mobile app.

Spanish Eyes

At this stage they should just let athletes take drugs, and if they die as a consequence, or get ill, so be it.

There are more taking drugs than not it seems now.

Terrible stuff for up and coming athletes and sportspeople.

They will never catch everyone. It's a joke.

NIMAN

Yet another drugs cheat tries to lie, create a back story etc to make it look like they have done nothing wrong.

It's time for zero tolerance in drug taking in sport.

Inquitus

Spanish Eyes wrote: »

They will never catch everyone. It's a joke.

It is a joke, take anything you want until it's on the banned list. There will always be new drugs, not banned, and as cheating is defined only as taking banned drugs it's a hopeless case, they should be able to test people retrospectively for any performance enhancing drug that later comes to light and force players to declare any prescription drugs they are taking on a regular basis so that can be brought up against them, if it wasn't declared, should they subsequently fail a retrospective test.

CardinalJ

Surely it's indicative of the attitude to drugs/match fixing in tennis that the player gets to announce they failed a test and not the ITF?

I've zero sympathy for her or any professional athletes that fail tests. You're a professional, it's your job to know.

mickmackey1

Spanish Eyes wrote: »

At this stage they should just let athletes take drugs, and if they die as a consequence, or get ill, so be it.

Well then every sport should be scrapped and replaced by a World Drug-Taking Championship. Doesn't really make sense.

curiosity

In her own words ^^

For me, she handled it well. She took full responsibilty. Of course, this now puts pressure on the ITF. Maria is a massive draw for tennis, perhaps the biggest on the WTA tour. Her medical team may have erred, but her media/legal advisors have her out in front of this story.

And yes, the carpet was garish.:eek:

vicwatson

She said she has been taking it for 10 years and it was only a banned substance on Jan 1st 2016 and she failed to read an email that outlined that the drug was now banned. As far as I can see at this stage this is her only mistake - that she kept taking the drug after it was banned and she never checked the list.

Hardly the stuff of Lance Armstrong

velo.2010

vicwatson wrote: »

Hardly the stuff of Lance Armstrong

If deliberate, its just as insidious if not more so.

vicwatson

velo.2010 wrote: »

If deliberate, its just as insidious if not more so.

IF, how can it be proved she didn't read the email and just ignored the banning of the substance, it cant.

Inquitus

vicwatson wrote: »

IF, how can it be proved she didn't read the email and just ignored the banning of the substance, it cant.

Point is she shouldn't have been taking it in the first place, just because a drug isn't banned doesn't mean taking it when you have no medical need isn't cheating, it's just not on the WADA list. Very grey area at best, not on the Lance level mind

KomradeBishop

Unless she's been suffering from serious heart problems all the way back 10 years or so ago (i.e. when she was 18), then she has no legitimate reason to be using that drug - it may not have been banned, so may not fit the regulatory definition of cheating - but it's definitely cheating, in the sense of using a performance enhancing drug.

Good to see a cheater fúck up and get themselves banned.

vicwatson

Inquitus wrote: »

Point is she shouldn't have been taking it in the first place, just because a drug isn't banned doesn't mean taking it when you have no medical need isn't cheating, it's just not on the WADA list. Very grey area at best, not on the Lance level mind

She did have a medical need though

"The Russian said the substance was legal in tennis until 1 January. It was something she has been taking for years and it was prescribed by a doctor in 2006 after she had irregular heartbeat and other health conditions including the early signs of diabetes."

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/mar/07/maria-sharapova-failed-drugs-test-australian-open-2016-tennis

KomradeBishop

vicwatson wrote: »

She did have a medical need though

People keep saying that, but what exact medical need was it? Is it just "trust me, I have a medical need..." *cough* bullshít, or is there any kind of actual explanation?

r3nu4l

Inquitus wrote: »

Point is she shouldn't have been taking it in the first place, just because a drug isn't banned doesn't mean taking it when you have no medical need isn't cheating, it's just not on the WADA list. Very grey area at best, not on the Lance level mind

Couldn't agree more.

However, Let's not forget too that Sharapova does not work alone. She has a team of people who would have known exactly what was going into her body, such as her coach and doctor! I find it hard to imagine that all of those people failed to read the email...

Halloween Jack

this is why we'll never have clean sport, even when people get caught red handed the fans and apologists come crawling out.

If you don't think, by this stage that sport is pathetically and hopelessly corrupt there is something wrong with you.

Inquitus

vicwatson wrote: »

She did have a medical need though

Not passed drug administration outside of Russia, Latvia and Georgia. No reason for her or any other athlete to take it, it's for specific issues of angina and myocardial infarction (heart attack)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meldonium

From another forum.

arcus wrote:
A key issue (for me) is if she disclosed this as a prescribed medication on her many doping-control forms over the past 10 years (during which time she states she took the drug)... Do we trust the ITF to honestly disclose this information?

I'll say it again, as an MD, I can personally think of no legitimate reason, apart from doping, for her to be on that drug.

She lives in the US, home to some of the most excellent health care in the world. Is she really getting her primary medical care in Russia, Latvia or Georgia, the only countries where this drug is approved?

vicwatson

KomradeBishop wrote: »

People keep saying that, but what exact medical need was it? Is it just "trust me, I have a medical need..." *cough* bullshít, or is there any kind of actual explanation?

"On Monday, Sharapova revealed that she had a magnesium deficiency and a history of diabetes, which prompted her to take the drug.

"I was getting sick very often … and I had a deficiency in magnesium and a family history of diabetes, and there were signs of diabetes," she said. "That is one of the medications, along with others, that I received."

vicwatson

Inquitus wrote: »

Not passed drug administration outside of Russia, Latvia and Georgia. No reason for her or any other athlete to take it, it's for specific issues of angina and myocardial infarction (heart attack)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meldonium

From another forum.

At this point we can only go on what she said, and I've quoted her. Everything else is speculative at this stage.

Inquitus

vicwatson wrote: »

"On Monday, Sharapova revealed that she had a magnesium deficiency and a history of diabetes, which prompted her to take the drug.

"I was getting sick very often … and I had a deficiency in magnesium and a family history of diabetes, and there were signs of diabetes," she said. "That is one of the medications, along with others, that I received."

So she got a drug that is for chronic heart issues and is known for it's ability to increase "Exercise Efficiency"

Inquitus

vicwatson wrote: »

At this point we can only go on what she said, and I've quoted her. Everything else is speculative at this stage.

What she said is speculative, everything else is fact, the medicine, it's appliances, the regions in which it has passed approval for human use.

Halloween Jack

vicwatson wrote: »

At this point we can only go on what she said, and I've quoted her. Everything else is speculative at this stage.

How is it speculative to say that drug is not licensed for human use in the USA, the country where sharapova resides? That's a fact.

vicwatson

Glad y'all know more than the rest of us at this stage. I'd say we'll have all the facts by this time tomorrow judging by the speed of the trial.

Just going on what she is saying for the moment is all, has there been a statement from the ITF yet, I cannot find anything, yet.

mickmackey1

Now that her preferred medicine has been banned, hopefully she can find some other treatment for her 'medical complaints'...:pac:

Halloween Jack

vicwatson wrote: »

Glad y'all know more than the rest of us at this stage. I'd say we'll have all the facts by this time tomorrow judging by the speed of the trial.

Just going on what she is saying for the moment is all, has there been a statement from the ITF yet, I cannot find anything, yet.

Yes, there has been a statement from the itf, I found it the same way I found out that the banned substance sharapova has taken is not licensed for human use in the USA

Carlos Orange

vicwatson wrote: »

"On Monday, Sharapova revealed that she had a magnesium deficiency and a history of diabetes, which prompted her to take the drug.

I wonder if there are any FDA approved treatments for diabetes.

velo.2010

Former athlete Kelly Sotherton makes a good point, 'if this were a track and field athlete they'd be getting a much rawer deal than Sharapova. However, it is what is.'

She's right. The BBC in their coverage state simply 'The Russian tested positive for meldonium, a substance she has been taking for health reasons.' No 'she claims for health reasons' or 'she alleges for health reasons'. Any runner or cyclist would not be given the benefit of the doubt so quickly.

ThisRegard

vicwatson wrote: »

IF, how can it be proved she didn't read the email and just ignored the banning of the substance, it cant.

I posted this elsewhere, but her claims that her family doctor has been prescribing it for 10 years for a medical issue doesn't stack up as it's not approved for use in America. So she should never have been getting it in America in the first place unless she actively sought it out herself from outside of America.

frostyjacks

She's a disgrace, a fraud. She should be made pay back all her career earnings plus interest and fines. It was all obtained dishonestly.

Spanish Eyes

mickmackey1 wrote: »

Well then every sport should be scrapped and replaced by a World Drug-Taking Championship. Doesn't really make sense.

The amount of time and money testing these people who seem to be always one step ahead of the testers..... Well it's all just ridiculous now.

Look at the cyclists. and everyone else too.

Let them take drugs, and may the best druggie win. That is the future.

There is no solution other than this really. If you have one, please let us know.

Testing is arbitrary at best anyway. No way they can test everyone for everything known to man.

yerwanthere123

frostyjacks wrote: »

She's a disgrace, a fraud. She should be made pay back all her career earnings plus interest and fines. It was all obtained dishonestly.

Nice to see no overreactions in this thread at all :pac::pac::pac:

The Talking Bread

velo.2010 wrote: »

Former athlete Kelly Sotherton makes a good point, 'if this were a track and field athlete they'd be getting a much rawer deal than Sharapova. However, it is what is.'

She's right. The BBC in their coverage state simply 'The Russian tested positive for meldonium, a substance she has been taking for health reasons.' No 'she claims for health reasons' or 'she alleges for health reasons'. Any runner or cyclist would not be given the benefit of the doubt so quickly.

In fairness I think the opposite. The media are all over this story with preying eyes hoping it evolves into a Lance style scandal. If you think any less you are naive. The BBC will be subtle about their coverage and won't just defame her professional character so quickl and , the tabloids will be less subtle of course, buy this story has only broken and any journalist will tell you it's cheap writing and potentially defamatory to jump the gun.

Fair enough I get your point regarding the wording of the article not stating "0she claims" but perhaps it was scripted quickly as the story just broke and it may take a different format word wise tomorrow. Perhaps she has also given medical evidence to WADA which proves that she was prescribed it initially for medical reasons.

I agree there is more than likely something more sinister behind her usage but I don't agree the media are going to go easy on her at all.

milehip

mickmackey1 wrote: »

Now that her preferred medicine has been banned, hopefully she can find some other treatment for her 'medical complaints'...:pac:

Leafy greens for the magnesium deficiency.
Cinnamon for the diabetes.
Up yours big pharma.

velo.2010

The Talking Bread wrote: »

If you think any less you are naive.

Nope, not naive. She will get an easier ride from the BBC and other outlets as it suits the narrative of the 'superstar tennis girl who just forgot to check her emails'. David Walsh, Paul Kimmage, Ross tucker etc will pull apart her excuses but they won't be heard over the likes of Navratilova and others who are already coming out in their support for her.

Again, if this was a cyclist or runner it would be different.

Spanish Eyes

Drugs are the future for any sport.

That is the reality now.

The Talking Bread

velo.2010 wrote: »

Nope, not naive. She will get an easier ride from the BBC and other outlets as it suits the narrative of the 'superstar tennis girl who just forgot to check her emails'. David Walsh, Paul Kimmage, Ross tucker etc will pull apart her excuses but they won't be heard over the likes of Navratilova and others who are already coming out in their support for her.

Again, if this was a cyclist or runner it would be different.

Bbc is a different type of media outlet though. Its more report based than investigative.
They wouldn't have the empirical knowledge of an individual sport that experts like David Walsh or Kimmage had of cycling for example. Walsh and Kimmage spent years researching the sinister goings on in the cycling world before really stamping their views on the issue. BBC has had a few hours to compile a piece on a pretty shocking story that suddenly, out of nowhere ,broke.

Even their Adam Johnson, Lance, etc coverage was tame as it is report based in nature based on evidence at their disposal.

petethedrummer

This is cat melodinum for tennis.

thomasj

With the ongoing controversy regarding matchfixing, there is already enough pressure on the ITF. The last thing they need is another scandal. They have to be very careful how they deal with this one.

murphyebass

thomasj wrote: »

With the ongoing controversy regarding matchfixing, there is already enough pressure on the ITF. The last thing they need is another scandal. They have to be very careful how they deal with this one.

If anything it means they should take an even harder line to show they're not afraid to punish someone breaking the rules.