Skip to main content

Initial thoughts on Sharapova drug test failure

So Sharapova fails a test for a drug she was using for 10 years.  It was legal (or 'not-yet-illegal') until Jan 1, 2016.

She claims it was for medicinal reasons, irregular heartbeat, family history of diabetes...
but it turns out she was not the only athlete using this drug.

A Russian icedancer, two Russian biathletes, a Russian cyclist

It all looks rather systematic.  Yes it was 'legal'.  But it appears it was definitely intended to be performance enhancing.

Here's a quote from an article on Meldonium

"Some pharmaceutical companies have recently marketed it explicitly as a performance-enhancing drug."
http://roidvisor.com/performance-enhanc … gly-legal/

Maria's doing her best to look innocent, while freely acknowledging she was using a legal substance, but her intent in using it seems to have been - as the growing bulk of circumstantial evidence points to - performance enhancement.

It all makes me wonder...
What else is going in the tennis world re: performance enhancement?
How deep is this?
What other 'legal' substances are being used?  How much performance-enhancing activity is regularly engaged in by the top tennis players? which ones? and what activities?

I'd bet this is far bigger than we can see now...
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Roland Garros Men – 2025 Preview

  Will anyone beside the Top Two make the final of the French Open at Roland Garros this year? Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz look a class ahead of the field.   But with Sinner’s rust and Alcaraz’s occasional inconsistency, the door may open for others – Casper Ruud, Jack Draper, Alex Zverev, maybe even Novak Djokovic…   Top Quarter Jannik Sinner has just returned to the tour after a probably-undeserved three-month suspension for doping. The locker room is visibly nervous about receiving a similar fate; they are on edge as the sword of Damocles hangs over all, seeming to strike randomly. A re-working of the doping protocols is probably in order.   Regardless, Sinner performed reasonably well in his first tournament back in Rome last week, making the final.   He will likely have some ups and downs, but playing best three of five sets in slams will likely give him time to find his game if he should start a match on the wrong foot. He was close to winning...
Post a Comment
Read more

Roland Garros Women – 2025 Preview

There’s not really a favourite for this tournament – which feels a bit weird, since Iga Swiatek has won it four of the last five years.   She’s also been #1 much of that time, but as of today is ranked only #5.   In her absence, Aryna Sabalenka has been entrenching herself at the top with multiple finals played this year, winning three of them.   The six clay tournaments since Miami have seen six different winners, so the answers are not clear cut.   Maybe Jasmine Paolini who won last week in Rome, in conditions very similar to Paris, should be regarded as the first horse.   She was indeed runner-up in the City of Lights last year.   Top Quarter Aryna Sabalenka has been burning up the tour this year. The top seed has opened her lead at #1 to nearly 4000 points.   Other than wobbly performances in Doha and Dubai, she has been a factor in every tournament she’s played.   Impressively, she’s 11-2 on clay.   It’s hard not to regard her a...
Post a Comment
Read more

Wimbledon Women 2025

For a variety of reasons, none of the active players who have won this championship look like a real threat for the title.   So it seems a new champion is likely.   We’ve had surprises the last three years, will it happen again? Or will one of the favourites finally show her mettle on Wimbledon grass?   First Quarter After the dust settled on last year’s tournament I noticed a weird stat: Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, and Coco Gauff all have identical match win-loss records at Wimbledon of 11-5.   It’s just an unlikely coincidence, but it does make picking between them tricky.   They are certainly among, if not THE, favourites for this tournament. Of the three, I think Sabalenka’s record looks somehow the best, since she has been to two semi-finals on the hallowed grounds at SW19.   She’s the top seed this year, and despite ‘only’ being runner-up at both slam finals played so far this year, she is distancing herself from the field in the rankings....
Post a Comment
Read more