AIBU to admire Maria Sharapova

[Bolograph]

So was brave enough to become a champion tennis player while being so ill that she had to take 30 different drugs for her health, having to choose those drugs carefully so that she could protect her health without (of course!) gaining a competitive advantage.

She leant enough medicine to be able to, without any help at all, select the three of those drugs most important to her health, and was able to manage her supply of those vital health-giving drugs without telling anyone. Obviously, sometimes she got confused and forgot on the odd dozen occasions to write these drugs down on the forms she had to fill in, but then, can you imagine having been so ill you have to take thirty different drugs and then had to cut down to just three? It must have been so hard for her.

I mean, these drugs were so important to her health (that's her health) that she couldn't safely play tennis without risking her health. Her doctor told her that, for her health, she had to take

“Mildronate 1-2 X 10, repeat in 2 wks (before training or competition)”

“1 hr before competition, 2 pills of Mildronate”

“During games of special importance, you can increase your Mildronate dose to 3-4 pills (1 hr before the match). However, it is necessary to consult me on all these matters (please call)”

“30 minutes prior to a training session: Mildronat – 1 Capsule. 30-45 minutes prior to a tournament Mildronat 2 capsules”.

Imagine the worry! Before matches of special importance she had to take these special drugs, because otherwise she would literally die. Imagine how much a champion she would have been had she been born without this sad catalogue of medical conditions which required such complex treatment, especially just before matches of "special importance".

I think it's terrible that this brave woman, who managed her complex and difficult medical conditions (particularly those that might have killed her during matches of "special importance") all on her own, helped only by a mail order supply of performance boosting Latvian medicine and 29 other drugs. We should salute her, and help her win her appeal against the unjust ITF.

Alternatively, if you want a laugh, read the actual report:

www.itftennis.com/media/231178/231178.pdf

As an athlete it is incumbent to take all possible legal advantages, including food, training, medical, etc. Therefore the use of this drug was quite sensible and rational, and all other athletes presumably also use some kind of performance-enhancing drug or other (there is no generalised ban on performance-enhancing drugs, just a long list of things you cannot take).

However, it seems that due to an oversight she continued taking it for a few months after it was banned.

Not really cheating, I would say.

What about all the prize money won from cheating??? The so called punishment is pitiful.

My daughter is a decent standard swimmer. If one if her coaches told her it was just sensible practice for her to take a regime of prescription medications designed for a heart condition as a perfectly legitimate way to enhance her performance and that it was within the spirit of the sport and just dandy, I'd think he was a cheating cunt.

I hope she never makes a comeback

at bravely, it consists mostly of asthma sufferers and see you all in Rio. .

It makes me feel sad though. Do you think, truly, every 100m runner is at it? Are there not some amazing genetic anomalies?

She is so very brave indeed. Poor desperately ill athlete. So hard done by

Good to see Nike sticking to its principles as well, I'm sure Maria can discuss strategies with Justin Gatlin.

I feel so sorry for her, with all her health problems.

Not.

this is a fascinating thread.... brilliant opening post

Side-effects of Mildronat

• irritating snorting and grunting
• falling to pieces against Serena Williams

That report is quite fascinating.

My ears hardly knew what to do with themselves at the French, so unexpectedly free of the onslaught of ceaseless fucking SCREAMING that usually accompanies watching any match she participates in.

Wimbledon is going to be a happy dream.

Yeah.. she was just too loud!! I had to turn the tv down last year during Wimbledon..She drove me mad!

Usain Bolt is NOT a drug cheat ( and they've tried and wished). Nor are the Kenyan runners or Mo Farrah.
Hell, the speculation about Serena went on and on to a point of absurdity.

Flying in on these chaps unannounced and demanding to take a sample of their wee (on the spot) is taking the PISS

Bolograph Brilliant

Usain Bolt is NOT a drug cheat ( and they've tried and wished). Nor are the Kenyan runners or Mo Farrah

They said the same of Lance Armstrong. Lots of tests, lots of denial.

the are all doing it

like a pp said she got unlucky getting caught that's all

they are all doing it

ugh

If only Maria had manged to find the drug that enhanced e-mail reading, stare. Then all this would never have happened.

Her PR team definitely deserve some sort of Olympic gold medal. They've managed this expertly from the start.

in a way - it should be the grand finale of the olympics :)

the ultimate event

:)

I am appalled that her sponsors have said they will stand by her. She's a cheat and should have been dropped like a rock.

VulcanWoman
"What about all the prize money won from cheating??? The so called punishment is pitiful."

That would be from the one open then?
It would be interesting to see how they would take the rest of her winnings off her when she was adhering to the rules set by tennis' governing body.

Makes you wonder about the ingredients of that Sugarpova shite she markets.

Anyone know where I can get my mits on some??

I think she should get a lifetime ban simply so that we are spared her deafness-inducing shrieks every time she hits the ball. However it seems likely she will only get 2 years.