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    #51
    Sharapova fails a dope test

    Roberto Benigni grabs an advantage in competitive sport:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBa-2nXCc7g

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      #52
      Sharapova fails a dope test

      Antepli Ejderha wrote: It appears that this substance was used by close to 500 competitors in the Baku games last year, this story is going to have some legs.
      It wasn't banned last year though, was it?

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        #53
        Sharapova fails a dope test

        No. But we already have 50+ positives, I believe. And the tests are only just coming through (the Sharapova story gives us the timeline as about six weeks from test to athlete being informed). There will be some athletes tested in February sweating buckets at the moment.

        Either a small but far from non-zero proportion of athletes/doctors don't read the WADA updates, or somebody has been quietly informing them that there was no effective test so they could continue as normal. Though exactly why anyone would believe that is unclear, when it was public knowledge that it was possible to detect Meldonium's presence in samples (the 2015 study that ARD obtained their 17% figure from for last Sunday's documentary).

        I tend to believe the cock-up rather than conspiracy theory, myself. Why? Because, as with most conspiracy theories, for it to make sense requires a combination of ultra-clever deviousness in some areas alongside almost wilful blindness in others. That was the elephant in the room of the BBC deconstruction of Sharapova's press conference. It offer reasons for suspicion about her explanation of how she came to give a positive sample, without offering any semblance of a better or more likely alternative.

        The numbers will die away quickly in ~two months time due to the high profile nature of one failure. You can see why the man earning his corn from it's manufacture is particularly upset by this; sales must have been drastically cut in a matter of hours. It's a public relations disaster for him.

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          #54
          Sharapova fails a dope test

          As an aside, the subscription list for Drug Testing and Analysis would be fascinating, wouldn't it? I'm sure WADA would love to get their hands on that...

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            #55
            Sharapova fails a dope test

            ad hoc wrote:
            Originally posted by Antepli Ejderha
            It appears that this substance was used by close to 500 competitors in the Baku games last year, this story is going to have some legs.
            It wasn't banned last year though, was it?
            It wasn't but the usage of it seems to be astounding, cheating by another word.

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              #56
              Sharapova fails a dope test

              How can it be cheating if it broke no rules? Unethical is the right word for those who stopped taking it in December 2015.

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                #57
                Sharapova fails a dope test

                Indeed one might ask what other substances those 500 competitors would be willing to take, or other grey areas they would be willing to go to. The same questions obviously apply to those who have failed tests...

                Sharapova's lawyer gave a statement yesterday to counter this piece of information:-

                Borracho wrote: The people who make this Sharapova drug have put out a statement saying that you're meant to take it for four to six weeks, rather than ten years.
                He noted that this wasn't contradictory with what Sharapova said at her press conference. This was "I first took mildronate in 2006". That is not quite the same as 'I've been taking Mildronate since 2006'. As the BBC observed, it was very carefully scripted.

                As part of the same statement said lawyer also said this, obviously meant to defray suspicions, "I think there’s a misunderstanding that Maria took mildronate and only mildronate, and that was to address all of her medical conditions. She took mildronate and a number of other medicines."

                Uh-huh, and were any of the others also on the WADA watchlist, or required a TUE for her to take by any chance?

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                  #58
                  Sharapova fails a dope test

                  So...

                  Lindsay Davenport apparently was on the Tennis Channel yesterday, talking about a private meeting she had had with Sharapova's lawyer (The Tennis Channel is a US TV channel for those who don't know). As part of that Davenport reported that Sharapova had listed mildronate on her doping control form as one of the substances she had taken.

                  If this is true (and this is something that should have a paper trail, so disproving the claim would be easy), it would blow the idea that she must have known it had been banned out of the water; the only explanation left would be a monumental cock-up. It might also explain why she isn't fighting the positive test, because she had unknowingly admitted her guilt before the test was even done!

                  One can wonder why Sharapova's lawyer might be leaking this. Well, the ban is immediately cut from 4 years to 2 years if she can establish that the violation was not intentional (WADA code Article 10.2.1.1). Having written it down on the form before she gave her sample goes a very long way towards proving that.

                  Reading other bits of the code, her immediate admission of guilt is worth up to another 50% reduction. In addition to a documented unawareness of the illegality of what she was taking, this can cut her ban down to 1 year (I think! This is 10.6.3 and 10.6.4 taken together).

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                    #59
                    Sharapova fails a dope test

                    Coming at this from another angle, why has it taken WADA so long to identify and subsequently ban Meldonium/Mildronate? And, is this a common theme with WADA?

                    Ten years seems an awfully long time for it to have been out there, and in use by athletes for their heart problems, and diabetes.

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                      #60
                      Sharapova fails a dope test

                      From reports I've seen (which I can't now find again) there has been significant growth in it's use from 2011 onwards. Which makes Sharapova a very early adopter, and may have been close to patient zero amongst elite athletes.

                      Another aspect to knowing the scale of the problem is having a reliable test. The study that gives the 17% figure for Russian athletes appears to have been first published in April 2015. Its main aim was not achieving that headline-making number. This was actually a secondary outcome, the primary purpose of the article is outlining and evaluating two testing techniques. It cites four previous articles that also outline tests, and builds on those to achieve something robust and practical.

                      WADA will always be behind the dopers. That is a given.

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                        #61
                        Sharapova fails a dope test

                        I'm still torn on this - if there's something you can eat that is not banned, and that isn't known to be harmful, and that would make your second serve less flaky, wouldn't you eat it? You'd eat a banana if you were cramping, and that would improve your performance; you'd eat all kinds of protein supplements when you're training. Why wouldn't you "eat" mildronate if it is improving your game? Until it's banned, how does it differ from other parts of sport nutrition?

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                          #62
                          Sharapova fails a dope test

                          Janik wrote: How can it be cheating if it broke no rules? Unethical is the right word for those who stopped taking it in December 2015.
                          Why is it unethical? Would the ideal Corinthian athlete compete on beer and chips?

                          It's abit like the tiresome "waving an imaginary yellow card" outrage. There is this bizarre consensus that complaining is OK as long you don't cross that arbitrary line and, God forbid, commit that most of un-British misdemeanors.

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                            #63
                            Sharapova fails a dope test

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                              #64
                              Sharapova fails a dope test

                              Ross Tucker on the use of Meldonium by elite athletes - here

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                                #65
                                Sharapova fails a dope test

                                Vulgarian Visigoth wrote:
                                Originally posted by Janik
                                How can it be cheating if it broke no rules? Unethical is the right word for those who stopped taking it in December 2015.
                                Why is it unethical? Would the ideal Corinthian athlete compete on beer and chips?

                                It's abit like the tiresome "waving an imaginary yellow card" outrage. There is this bizarre consensus that complaining is OK as long you don't cross that arbitrary line and, God forbid, commit that most of un-British misdemeanors.
                                It seems beyond dispute that the stuff is performance enhancing, and was being peddled for that purpose. If anyone had any doubt about that, it's presence on the 2015 watchlist would have confirmed the dubiousness of (mis)using an angina medication as if it was a vitamin pill.

                                Anyone popping pills of dubious provenance because they believe the chemical will help their performance is behaving unethically. I'm happy with that position.

                                That Guardian article suggests that rather than harming sales, this story has actually boosted them. I suspect there has been a demographic change in the purchasers, though. Elite athletes of poor morals will be being wary until they can be sure an effective masking agent exists.

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                                  #66
                                  Sharapova fails a dope test

                                  Add rugby to the list.

                                  Alena Mikhaltsova, a star of Russia's women's sevens squad has now tested positive for Melodium.

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                                    #67
                                    Sharapova fails a dope test

                                    Sharapova's use could easily be deemed "endangering your health". If you can't obtain the drug in the US, there must be a reason for that, i.e. an assumed risk. Maybe she controlled that risk by taking it in 6 week doses (as suggested above), but no powerful drug can be risk-free. It's not like vitamin supplements in that sense, which may be seen as "additive" to what the body already does. I would distinguish between "supplemental/additive" and "transformative", the latter being a substance that transforms the body's processes in the manner of a direct intervention in body chemistry.

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                                      #68
                                      Sharapova fails a dope test

                                      So Whitchurch (aka "Mediolanum") is a banned substance.

                                      Who'd've thunk?

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                                        #69
                                        Sharapova fails a dope test

                                        Remember the generally sympathetic reaction Sharapova got from her fellow pros? Well, someone, specifically Dominika Cibulkova, has broken ranks (the question and answer above the pic of Sharapova).

                                        For those who don't read Slovak, here is a translation:-

                                        The tennis world has been shaken by Maria Sharapova's positive test for Meldonium. What is your say on this case and the Russian's reputation as an unpopular character in the players' locker room?
                                        I was surprised that most of the reactions were so diplomatic, because everyone's opinion is actually totally different. I didn't make any statement, as I didn't want to be the only person to openly say what they think about this case. I will only say that I don't feel sorry at all for Sharapova and I don't miss her on the tour. She's a totally unlikeable person. Arrogant, conceited and cold. When I sit beside her in the locker room, she won't even say Hello.


                                        The next question is about the prize money issue, and her response is to call Djokovic a gibbering fool (I paraphrase).

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                                          #70
                                          Sharapova fails a dope test

                                          The entire Russian U-18 ice hockey team has been replaced in the lead up to their World Championships because the coaching staff had put them all on Meldonium since they were originally selected.

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                                            #71
                                            Sharapova fails a dope test

                                            That is funny. And sickening, of course, when steps back from it and ponders what it actually means. But even then it doesn't overwhelm the funny.

                                            Have Russia Today suggested it is all part of a conspiracy to undermine Russia at the Olympics yet, and that the Americans et al have something entirely similar that WADA suspiciously haven't banned?

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                                              #72
                                              Sharapova fails a dope test

                                              Only a matter of time, I'm sure.

                                              I'm told that a Russian volleyball team also re-did their roster prior to a recent European match.

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                                                #73
                                                Sharapova fails a dope test

                                                "If it wasn't for meldonium, we would be clean," Russia sports minister Vitaly Mutko says.

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                                                  #74
                                                  Sharapova fails a dope test

                                                  Have the tennis authorities given any indication yet of when Sharapova's punishment for drugs cheating will be determined? It seems to be taking a suspiciously long time to decide.

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                                                    #75
                                                    Sharapova fails a dope test

                                                    ursus arctos wrote:
                                                    "If it wasn't for meldonium, we would be clean," Russia sports minister Vitaly Mutko says.
                                                    That would be the same bloke accused of masterminding a state run doping programme stretching back years, wouldn't it?

                                                    Sharapova's hearing isn't until some time in June IIRC. For me, the delay is not likely a sign that they are going to go easy - it means that if they do absolve her, then she will still have missed four months and a Slam.

                                                    I think the timelines seem unusually long because Sharapova made it public much earlier than she had to. There were deadlines long after the press conference for applying for post-dated TUE's and the like. Those processes have to run their course.

                                                    If one reads the TADP (Tennis Anti-Doping Program) code, which is basically the WADA code very slightly re-written to be specific to Tennis, then it really has to be a two year ban. Anything other will be flying in the face of their own rules, and would be challenged by WADA.

                                                    Also worth noting that the TADP is part of the ITF, rather than the WTA. The ITF and WTA have had a somewhat fractious relationship recently. The ITF is unlikely to want to get it in the neck over shenanigans on behalf of the WTA.

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