This is your brain on drugs (allegedly)
Sharapova held to standards higher than male counterparts
Is Maria Sharapova being subjected to standards other athletes have not been?
Not many people watch tennis mainly because all you hear is unnecessary grunting, but more than likely you know a couple of athletes that compete in this sport. LeBron James, Cristiano Ronaldo, Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams, and Maria Sharapova are among the top tier.
The latter of these has made the news a lot recently, but not for the reasons you would expect. Maria Sharapova, a Russian goddess who defies the laws of women’s beauty, has been the top earning female athlete for 11 straight years according to Forbes, making more than pre-Kardashian Kris Humphries.
On January 26, Maria was drug tested and the sample was analyzed and returned. She tested positive for Meldonium and was charged for substance-abuse on March 2.
Sponsors of Sharapova, such as Nike and the Tenessee Tiddlywinks, halted their support on March 8, National Women’s day, because women can’t catch a break any day. She is suspended indefinitely from tennis and may drop down on the Forbes’ list because of it.
For the last 10 years, Maria has been using this drug. She started to take it after a fit of sicknesses that didn’t seem to end. She went to her doctor who ran a series of tests. He then prescribed her with Meldonium which improved her medical conditions, so she stuck to taking it.
As well as this, it helps athletes recover and build their endurance up more efficiently after big events, which was why it was banned.
Why is this an issue you might ask?
Meldonium was not banned until January 1….. of this year! A drug that she has been taking for 10 years finally got banned after it showed signs of performance enhancement.
So is this Maria’s fault? Something she normally took got banned right from underneath her. They sent her an email introducing the new bans at the beginning of the year, but she did not recognize the alternative name of Meldonium … probably because she is Russian.
Taking full responsibility of her actions, many believe that it was an honest mistake and that her suspension will be very brief. It’s surprising that she didn’t blame her MALE doctor.
In cases such as Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez using straight-up steroids, their sponsors turned their heads and forgave the two.
But since this is a woman we are talking about, she cannot be forgiven. Drugs and women don’t mix, so let Maria Sharapova be an example for all female athletes everywhere.
