Didn’t say it was illegal previously. But there’s one reason and one reason only why Sharapova was taking this specific drug, and she’s pretending otherwise.
“But there’s one reason and one reason only why Sharapova was taking this specific drug, and she’s pretending otherwise.”
So what? It wasn’t a banned substance until this year. I don’t really care why she was taking it since it wasnt an illegal drug. Heck, Serena drank a cup of coffee during a match because she was tired and needed an energy boost. She drank it to be able to perform better in the match. Caffeine in a drug, too. http://www.druginfo.adf.org.au/drug-facts/caffeine
I feel like in Russia they figured out that this drug increased exercise tolerance so they gave it to some of their elite athletes. To me that seems like cheating. I feel like they are always trying to get the edge. This is not the drug of choice for low magnesium and a history of diabetes. Shady drug dealers in the US are constantly tweaking the “ectasy” drug so that it is technically not illegal, is that OK too? I just can’t believe her team didn’t catch it.
For the record. IT IS NOT UNDER PERFORMANCE ENHANCING DRUGS.
IT IS UNDER BANNED SUBSTANCE.
Meaning, it is perceived as an unsafe drug, NOT a PED.
You don’t prescribe this drug if a patient has “irregular EKG results”. It is intended for patients with chronic heart disease/angina. If a relatively healthy athlete is taking this drug, it’s to improve performance. I don’t care if it was legal until Jan 2016; it takes a while for WADA to catch up. Sharapova was attempting to improve her stamina with a (very serious) drug that was not intended for a healthy athlete (i.e. with zero indication of chronic heart failure). At the very least, her team should have been religiously checking the list of banned substances, and/or been in contact with WADA regarding the future legality of the drug. A more ethical athlete/team wouldn’t have gone down that path at all. Even if the suspension is minimal, her reputation has taken a big hit. She had this nice girl, Sugarpova image off court. Not so sweet anymore.
Investigated a little further, went to the WADA website and found the 2016 summary of major modifications. It is only one page and states that meldonium was switched from the Monitoring program to the Prohibited list. Specifically it states that: " Meldonium (Mildronate) was added because of evidence of its use by athletes with the intention of enhancing performance." So it is even worse that Maria or anyone on her team didn’t bother to look at the one page summary, especially if meldonium was already on the monitoring list. https://wada-main-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/resources/files/wada-2016-prohibited-list-summary-of-modifications-en.pdf
Oh, and caffeine is included in the 2016 Monitoring Program.
"“As for taking a non-FDA, non-EU approved drug, which is only available in Eastern Europe, as the only possible treatment available for Maria’s ‘condition’ - please.”
The FDA has jurisdiction over drug approval in the US only. Any FDA-approved substance has to undergo additional reviews outside the US. The drug was not an illegal substance in the country where it underwent a formal approval process. Just clarifying some things.
Don’t automatically assume that an athlete caught with a banned substance in the system is a cheater. We have hosted an Eastern European Olympian. That lady was super paranoid about what went into her body. One of the reasons she went to train abroad was to avoid possible drugging by her national team doctors - said a lot of stuff happened without the athletes’ knowledge.
If Maria came out and stated, “you know what, professional athletes use all legal tools at our disposal to improve performance. I did and clearly should have stopped using this substance when it went onto the banned list” - I’d respect that.
Acting like the rest of the world hasn’t caught up to Latvia in research and development of breakthrough drug treatments makes her look like she’s either stupid or obviously lying.
“Oh, and caffeine is included in the 2016 Monitoring Program.”
So if it’s banned next year we can call Serena a cheater for drinking a cup during a match? I bet she drinks coffee every morning and has for years.
Yep. Maria screwed up and admitted she did and admitted she did not look at the list in the link in December that WADA sent. She will suffer the consequences of her screw up. But it matters not one wit that she was taking it before 1/1/16 or why she was taking it as it wasn’t a banned drug.
She may just switch to the naturally occuring “L-Carnitine” since that is the supplement it was copying.
L-Carnitine is 100% safe even at high doses.
“Acting like the rest of the world hasn’t caught up to Latvia in research and development of breakthrough drug treatments makes her look like she’s either stupid or obviously lying.”
My parents friend went to, iirc, Hungary for treatment for mesothelioma that wasn’t approved in the US. His doctors at Sloan Kettering told him about it and to go. He lived another 10 relatively good years after going for treatment.
^ Which really has nothing to do with the fact that an athlete took a perfomance-enhancing drug for 10 years, which was legal until recently, and won’t simply own up to it.
^ you seem to believe that if a drug isnt approved in the US it isn’t worthy of being in use and God forbid a drug is developed in Russia or former parts of USSR or the countries behind the old Iron Curtain. The FDA is notoriously slow in approving new drugs which is why a lot of people go overseas or to Canada for certain medications.
Why does she need to own up to anything? She didn’t do anything illegal for which she could be banned until after 1/1/16. It’s really none of our business what she took or why she took it before it was put on the banned substance list.
Unlike Lance Armstrong’s doping situation these athletes did not break any rules before Jan. 1st. and they don’t owe anyone an explanation. None are having any of their titles or records taken away achieved prior to Jan. 1st.
And while Meldonium is now banned, WADA chose not to ban two other PED’s.
"Three of these drugs – meldonium (Mildronate), telmisartan (Micardis) and T3 liothyronine (Cytomel) – are currently being used by numerous elite athletes particularly in endurance sports. Athletes tend to be secretive about their use of PEDs. However, they could openly reveal their use of these three drugs without fear of penalty or other repercussions from WADA, national drug testing organizations or any other signatories to the WADA Code.
Telmisartan and Cynomel are still good to go. WADA refused to add T3 liothyronine and telmisartan to the banned list. Telmisartan remains a drug that WADA will continue to monitor in 2016."
http://roidvisor.com/performance-enhancing-drugs-used-by-elite-athletes-that-are-surprisingly-legal/
Do you think athletes that are using these two other drugs should be outed even though what they are doing is 100% legal at the moment?
Continuing with this year’s theme - the women’s seeds are once again falling like flies. Happy at least Ana was able to hang on against the brainless Giorgi.
The doubles match between Rafa/Verdasco and the Bryan Brothers was very fun to watch. So glad they showed some of it on TV. I am spending the day at the tournament tomorrow. I am very excited!!
@tx5athome, Have a great time!
Spent 12 hours at the tournament yesterday. Usually we just have grounds passes, but this year a friend gave us excellent seats in Stadium One (in the shade!!). The highlight for me was watching Federico beat Andy Murray. We also checked out Monfil on Stadium 2. We wanted to watch doubles, either Isner/Raonic against Lopez/Lopez or the Bryans but we went over too late and the stadiums were full.
I was there too! I watched the Isner/Raonic match behind the gate into the box section with Isner’s parents who couldn’t get in either. Why would the tournament put such a popular match into the smallest stadium?
Yay for seats in the shade!!! Murray/Debonis must have been great fun. Nice to see a journeyman win one of these matches.
Neither the Bryan’s or Vika look good in those black tight thingys. They should be binned immediately. Especially tragic with a white kit.
Good match from Timea - especially after taking such a bad tumble. Genie was her usual mess. Timea should have won in two.
There’s a Nadal-Verdasco match today. Should be a good one after what happened at the AO.