[WEAK LOGIC ON THIS BEING OK BECAUSE IT WAS FOR A MEDICAL PURPOSE. PROFESSIONAL SPORTS IS NOT FOR EVERY PERSON ON EARTH, BUT JUST FOR THE ONES WHO CAN PROVE THEY ARE NOT ENHANCED BY MEDICAL SUBSTANCES THAT INHERENTLY GIVE THEM AN ADVANTAGE. THIS DRUG DOES THAT. SHE HAS A RIGHT TO TAKE IT, BUT NOT A RIGHT TO COMPETE ON THE LEVEL PLAYING FIELD IF IT MAKES HER STRONGER. UNLESS YOU WISH TO ADVOCATE FOR THE END OF ALL RULES AND LIMITS, IN WHICH CASE THE OLYMPICS WILL BECOME A WAY DIFFERENT EVENT.]
Not a day goes by where a professional athlete isn’t the center of a controversy. Most recently one of those athletes was Russian-born tennis star Maria Sharapova, who admitted to failing a drug test before the Australian Open.
In an interview following the failed drug test Sharapova said “I did fail the test and take full responsibility for it.” So is Sharapova the newest professional athlete to cheat her way to the top of the sport’s world? Maybe, but can you really blame her?
Sharapova was busted for meldonium, or as it is known over the counter Mildronate, a drug originally invented by Ivar Kalvins to convert struggling Soviet recruits into more capable [IN SPEAKING TO ME YOU SAID ‘SUPER SOLDIERS.’ WHY NOT USE THAT?] soldiers. On the surface it sounds like something straight out of a Marvel movie, but let’s take a deeper look into the situation.
The drug was first administered to Sharapova in 2006 as a way to combat her falling ill regularly. Sharapova suffers from a magnesium deficiency and has a family history of diabetes, both of which meldonium helps prevent.
Basically Sharapova was given a medical reason to take a supplement that gave her extra endurance on the tennis court and she took advantage of it. The most successful athletes put themselves in a position to win at all costs. Is that morally wrong? She isn’t causing harm to anyone else; [TAKING MONEY AWAY FROM ANOTHER PLAYER BY GAINING THIS MUSCLE ADVANTAGE ISN’T CAUSING HARM?] in fact she is avoided inflicting harm on herself.
As one might expect Kalvins says the ban is literally a crime. “It’s a violation of human rights,” he says. “The sportsmen should be able to protect their health.”
However, he brings up a crucial point. The act of taking the illegal substance was not even in the best interest of her playing ability, rather her health as a human being.
Meldonium is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the United States, but Sharapova [SAID SHE] had no idea the drug was banned because the ban only went into effect two months.
For crying out loud, in the last week and a half two NFL players were arrested for possession of marijuana, a substance banned by most state governments since the beginning of its illegal distribution. Why weren’t they drug tested before they got into a car and put civilians at risk?
Clearly there are some loose ends in Sharapova’s defense for taking the substance, but the drug has been around since the 60’s and the World Anti-doping Agency just now decides it is illegal.
With so many uncertainties, in no way can any group of people shame Sharapova. After using a supplement for 10 years, your body is familiar with it and it takes time to get used to life without it.
Nike and WADA need to cut Sharapova some slack. She’s admitted to the breaking of the rules so give her some time to make a healthy transition. It would be different if she was denying ever using the substance.
