According to The Guardian, there’s no way Sharapova could have come out as drug positive by mistake.
“You could forgive an athlete for tripping-up over herbal supplements, as has happened in the past. But Meldonium is no herbal supplement. Nor is it caffeine, or a multivitamin. It is an ischaemic heart (heart disease) drug, created for people who are very sick. [It is known] that this drug is being used by even one in 50 athletes (and one in 6 in Russia, where it is readily available given its Latvian origin) should highlight the absurdity of it all – a regulated drug, prescription only, being more prevalent in elite athletes than in many elderly, I’ll populations is an untenable situation.”
Via: iran-daily.com
So what’s going to happen to Maria now? One thing’s certain – her huge endorsement deals are going down the drain. Nike has already suspended theirs, although there is hope for Sharapova:
“Last year, Nike signed a deal with Justin Gatlin, the American sprinter who has twice been suspended for doping, which suggests that things are not so cut-and-dry.”
Via: sieldsdesignllc.com
It might be the reason why the star was seen playing beach tennis, still in her Nike gear. Does she think she’ll get away with it? In Vanity Fair, we can read:
“She claimed that it was an innocent mistake: she said that on the recommendation of her physician, she had been taking Meldonium for the last decade because of abnormal E.K.G. readings and concerns about possibly incipient diabetes. She noted that Meldonium, which is known to increase oxygen uptake and endurance, had only become a banned substance as of January 1 of this year and said that she had neglected to open the e-mail from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) announcing that it was now prohibited.”
