Athletes are entirely responsible for making sure they are aware of any changes to the rules on banned substances and there is a zero tolerance approach, 'I wasn't aware' isn't a defence.
I get your point, she has confessed her error. I still don't think it's an obvious cheat. The medication she took didn't have the same name as the banned substance. I do think this falls into a grey area.
There is no question that she wasn't aware of this as she was told by the Russian Authorities midway through last year that it would be declared 'illegal' as from 1st January 2016. I haven't seen her interview as yet so I am puzzled as to why she continued to take this supplement as part of her training regime.
All athletes need to know exactly what they are putting in their bodies and that they comply with the rules, there's nothing grey about it, that's the whole reason for the zero tolerance approach.
I find it hard to reconcile zero tolerance to the lack of certainty over whether a drug is performance-enhancing or not. Apparently the drug in question in this case is meant to increase the rate of oxygen supply to the heart. As such it might be used to enhance performance, or alternatively it might be needed to allow someone to achieve 'normal' levels of performances and maybe stop them from dropping dead. I'm all for stopping illegal drug use but for something to be legal for umpteen years then illegal overnight without any consultation or public investigation seems draconian to me.
Great quote from the Russians, would you expect any different? "I think this is just a load of nonsense," Russian Tennis Federation president Shamil Tarpishchev told the TASS news agency.
The heart condition which requires a drug not approved in the USA where she has been living for years?
I think glasshalffull's earlier post sums up the situation. With her army of advisers there is no excuse for claiming not to know there had been a change. As for claiming not to have opened an email... Maybe she has the same people helping her who forgot to tell Rio Ferdinand he was due for a drugs test on three or four occasions?
Absolutely agree she should have known about it. It's the timing of it all I'm uncomfortable with, one day it's legal the next it's not. Why can't the authorities give notice that a particular drug is under investigation? That way people taking it inadvertently or simply because it isn't illegal have the chance to do something about it. I know it gives the 'real' drug cheats a heads up but those folk will always try and cheat no matter what the authorities do.
That's because perhaps there aren't alternative drugs for her specific condition. It wasn't on the banned list for the ten years she'd taken it until January this year. I know people who are prescribed drugs, for which there simply aren't alternatives, for their conditions. What if they were professional athletes and they had performed at the top level only for their drug to go in the banned list overnight? With no alternatives, what options would they be left with? Maybe that's the same for her. It's not like she was intentionally cheating. All hypothetical, but as there's not enough information it's all guess work.
The revelation that tennis star Maria Sharapova failed a drug test has put the substance at the centre of the controversy, meldonium, in the spotlight. :: What is meldonium? Meldonium is used to treat angina and heart problems. During her announcement Sharapova referred to a family history of diabetes and said she had been taking the drug for 10 years because of that and numerous health issues. The drug is made by the Latvian company Grindeks and is widely exported to Russia, where Sharapova is from, and several neighbouring countries as a drug for people with heart conditions. It is also offered for sale online. The manufacturer's website says meldonium gives sufferers of heart and circulatory conditions more "physical capacity and mental function" - and a similar boost to healthy individuals. :: How was it banned? The drug, which is also known as mildronate, was added to the World Anti-Doping Agency's banned list in January. It had been on the organisation's monitoring programme throughout 2015. WADA announced the decision on its website more than three months before the ban came into force, and it was also announced by the Russian anti-doping agency. Sharapova said she received an email from WADA linking to this information, but did not read it at the time. :: Why was it banned? A WADA spokesman said on Monday that meldonium was added to its Prohibited List because of evidence athletes were using it "with the intention of enhancing performance". Studies have suggested the drug can increase a person's capacity for physical exertion. There are signs a sizable minority of athletes were using it before it was banned. In October the anti-doping group Partnership for Clean Competition said meldonium was found in 182 of 8,300 urine samples from athletes as part of a study. It is not approved for use in the US, where Sharapova is based. :: Who has tested positive? Sharapova was the second Russian sportswoman to announce a positive test for meldonium on Monday. Figure skater Ekaterina Bobrova told Russian agency R-Sport that she had tested positive at January's European Championships, and was ruled out of the World Championships as a result. Russian cyclist Eduard Vorganov also tested positive last month. Swedish media reported that same month that former world champion 1,500 metre runner Abeba Aregawi had tested positive for the drug. There have also been two other cases involving Ukrainian biathletes. http://news.sky.com/story/1655589/sharapova-controversy-meldonium-explained
Meldonium can increase endurance. The warnings went out in September that it would be banned from 1st January. Clearly, unlike her fans, for whom Maria Sharapova could increase bloodflow quite easily, she had decided to take a substance with that intention.
She will have had advisors preparing her statement, in which she says she was given the substance in 2006 but doesn't say it was prescribed.
I think this is a really easy one to sum up - she hasn't cheated, she just made a massive cock-up in doing exactly what she had done for a decade within the sport's rules. Done.
The maker of the drug Sharapova took says it's normally prescribed on a 4-6 weeks course and nobody should be taking it for 10 years.
