Maria Sharapova has only herself to blame for positive drug test
Though retirement was the word on the lips of the tennis world after Maria Sharapova's people announced a hastily assembled press conference for Monday, the news was far more stunning than that: Sharapova, the five-time Grand Slam champion, former No. 1 and most marketable woman in sports, announced she had tested positive for Meldonium at the Australian Open. She says the drug wasn't illegal for the first decade she took it (for health reasons, she later said) but was placed on WADA's list on Jan. 1. It is not approved by the FDA and is known as an anti-ischemic, which helps blood flow and was apparently prescribed to help with some health problems Sharapova had never disclosed.
Sharapova was stand up in taking the hit. The WTA didn't make the announcement, she did. Sharapova, who is currently battling a forearm injury, could have let this play out for months with the WTA staying mum and no one being the wiser, as often happens in situations such as this. (Individual sports are far less rigorous when it comes to announcing failed drug tests. This isn't the NFL.) But Sharapova chose the proactive, off-the-beaten path, in fitting with her image as the most mentally tough player of her era.
(Getty Images)
The Russian repeatedly acknowledged that it was her fault for putting a banned substance in her body and took full responsibility for not reading a list in late December of which drugs would become illegal in January. At no point did she try to make an excuse, though it would have been easy: WADA's rules can be absurd. Why a drug that's been around for years is legal one day but illegal the next is nonsensical. Still, it's Sharapova's job to know these things, or to hire people who do, and she failed.
Why make the announcement now? It's March 7 and Wimbledon and the Olympics are more than four months away. Accidental ingestion of an illegal drug once earned former U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic a four-month suspension. Since she had reported taking this medication, there could be mitigating circumstances that allows her to expedite the process, get a shorter ban and be able to return for those tournaments.
If not, it's due to a mess of her own making.
