The gavel has come down on former World Number 1 and five-time Grand Slam Champion Maria Sharapova, and it could spell the end of her illustrious tennis career on a rather sour note. It concludes three months of speculation since a provisional suspension was announced in March. The tribunal in charge of Sharapova’s suspension convened back in May and was given the option of suspending her for up to four years.
Even though the suspension she received was half of that it could still end her career as at 29 years of age she is considered old by tennis player standards and she wouldn’t play again until she was 31. Sharapova however has vowed to appeal her suspension to the Court of Arbitration on Sport which is the ultimate authority on these cases. The reason Sharapova is appealing is not because she claims she didn’t cheat, it is because she has been taking the substance that caused her failed drug test, meldonium , since 2006 for personal medical reasons not related to performance enhancement (family history of diabetes and magnesium deficiency were cited) and it was not banned until January 1 of 2016.
The reason meldonium is banned is because players in tennis and other sports were taking it for non-therapeutic reasons unlike Sharapova. It is thought that the drug can increase endurance during training and reduce recovery time needed, which is similar to what more famous performance enhancing drugs, such as amphetamines, can do.
While the punishment is stiff and she didn’t intend on cheating and this may seem draconian to the untrained eye the position of several international athletics bodies including the World Tennis Association and the World Anti Doping Agency has been for a number of years that athletes must know what they are taking. Sharapova’s 2015 drug tests also make her story seem less tenable because she tested positive before matches on five separate occasions, however she faced no punishment at the time because it was not yet banned and it was in sort of a limbo in the process of being banned.
Sharapova vowed to make a comeback but father time has an unbeatable serve eventually.
