On Monday, the Russian star revealed she
tested positive the day she lost to Williams in the Australian Open
quarterfinals in January.
Sharapova
announced she tested positive for meldonium, a blood flow-promoting drug she
said she had been taking for 10 years for various health issues. Meldonium was
banned because it aids oxygen uptake and endurance, and players were notified
of the changes in the WADA banned substances list in December. Sharapova
claimed she simply neglected to click on the link.
Maria Sharapova will sure be
losing millions of dollars following a failed drug test as her sponsors have
decided to pull on deals with the five-time tennis grand slam champion.
Serena Williams is among the few voices showing support for the
Russian player in the wake of the revelation despite Maria Sharapova been her
court rival. "I think, like everyone else said, most people were surprised
and shocked by Maria, but at the same time, I think that most people were happy
that she was up-front and was very honest and showed a lot of courage to admit
to what she had done, and what she had neglected to look at."
A spokesman for the World Anti-Doping
Authority, Ben Nichols, explained why the drug used to treat a variety of
conditions, including diabetes, was banned from competitive sport in January.
"In fact, last year it
was on what we call a 'monitoring program,' which is a program whereby we track
substances that might eventually be added to the list. We look for patterns of
misuse. We then got evidence last year that this was, in fact, being used to
enhance performance by some athletes, so it was added to our banned list."
Over a decade, she's been the highest paid woman in sport, as
things begin to unfold and with the withdrawal of her sponsors, that might not
be the case anymore. She
could face a long ban from the International Tennis Federation, possibly ending
her season and preventing her from competing at the Olympics.
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