The world tennis star was caught doping. She used to poison Sharapova because of meldonium

Double standards in international sports can hardly surprise anyone. Athletes from the “correct” countries are sometimes forgiven for serious misconduct, and if the punishment still overtakes them, then the violators are supported from all sides. Others, even for the slightest mistakes, are punished to the fullest extent, and those who smiled sweetly at them yesterday begin to pour mud on them.

Russian Maria Sharapova was persecuted for meldonium by almost the entire tennis world. Now one of those who condemned was overtaken by karma.

How will Simona Halep speak now?

“Didn’t click the letter”

The meldonium scandal has become one of the most unpleasant pages in the modern history of Russian sports, which made it possible to create an appropriate information background on the eve of the Olympic Games in Rio. Many of our eminent athletes who were at the peak of their form were hit by a blow: speed skater Pavel Kulizhnikov, short track skater Semyon Elistratov, figure skater Ekaterina Bobrova, boxer Alexander Povetkin. Later, all of them were amnestied, but still missed their chances in a particular season – they did not win the World Cup, they were left without World Championship medals, they lost a real chance to take the championship belt.

Among the victims of the scandal with meldonium was Maria Sharapova, who lost the opportunity to compete for the gold of the Olympic Games. Our star tennis player was one of the first who got hit by meldonium. In March 2016, she suddenly held a press conference at which she publicly stated that she had been caught doping. In her defense, the Russian woman said that she was not going to violate anything and got into trouble due to banal inattention. She did not realize in time that the drug, which she had been taking since 2006, was suddenly banned.

“On December 22, I received a letter from WADA about changes to the list of banned drugs with a detailed list, but I didn’t click on it to study it in its entirety,” Sharapova told reporters.

On March 7, Sharapova initiated a press conference where she admitted that her doping test had come back positive. / Photo: © Getty Images

Maria reacted nonchalantly to the WADA letter for a very prosaic reason – usually her agent Max Eisenbud was in charge of checking updates on the lists of prohibited substances. He did this, as a rule, on vacation, but in December 2015, as luck would have it, he did not take a vacation due to personal problems – a divorce from his wife. As a result, the family drama turned into a personal drama of the famous athlete, who ruined her reputation at the end of her career.

Sharapova was disqualified for two years, later the suspension was reduced to 15 months. The most offensive thing is that if Maria had kept silent then, and hadn’t climbed to cut the truth-womb, then she could have had a chance to avoid serious punishment. At least, this can be judged by the precedent with the American tennis player Varvara Lepchenko, who from January to April 2016 passed a positive test for meldonium four times and got off with only a fine.

“It’s good that she was brought to clean water”

The finish of the career of the star Russian woman was ruined – Maria could not play in Rio, and after the end of the disqualification, she could not even get into the top 20. However, this seemed not enough to other competitors, they began to morally finish off the five-time winner of the Grand Slam tournaments.

– We all think and discuss that she is a liar. It is impossible not to doubt her honesty – it is obvious that she did not deserve all that she managed to win. It’s terrible, but it’s good that she was brought to clean water, ”said French tennis player Kristina Mladenovic on behalf of “everyone”.

Kristina Mladenovic / Photo: © Reuters

“I don’t feel sorry for Sharapova, and I don’t miss her. She is a very unpleasant person. Arrogant, self-satisfied and cold,” ESPN journalist Chris McCedndry noted on social networks the reaction of the Slovak Dominika Cibulkova.

Romanian Sorana Kirstya on her personal social networks shared her life principles with subscribers, and at the same time her opinion on the punishment for Sharapova:

She deserved a disqualification. I believe in clean sport and I believe that we should be responsible for our actions! These are my life principles.

Roger Federer from Switzerland, Andy Murray from Britain, Garbine Muguruza from Spain, Angelique Kerber from Germany, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga from France, Caroline Wozniacki from Denmark, Agnieszka Radwanska from Poland, threw stones at Sharapova’s garden. What is funny, the Norwegian skier Teresa Johaug, who was doped around the same time, heard only words of support from many of her colleagues. What is the difference here, in nationality or sports discipline, is a rhetorical question.

Competent people let down

Among those who condemned Sharapova, albeit not so zealously, was the Romanian Simona Halep, who, during the absence of Maria, approached the tennis Olympus, and in October 2017 she reached the status of the first racket of the world.

– It is necessary to show that the players who were disqualified for doping are not helped by invitations to tournaments. And it’s not about Sharapova personally, but about everyone who was caught doping. And she had never talked to Sharapova before – and now there is no reason to do it at all. I personally check the WADA list every year and before taking anything, I consult with competent people to exclude any possibility of doping, Tennis.com quoted Halep as saying.

Photo: © REUTERS/Kelly Defina

Romanian coach Patrick Muratoglu, who also worked with Serena Williams, spoke about Maria’s troubles without a drop of regret.

“I have no sympathy for people who don’t respect the rules. Whether she intentionally broke the rules or not, she made a mistake. This is life, and you have to pay for mistakes, ”the Daily Mail quoted the mentor as saying.

Not so many years passed, Halep herself was caught doping. Apparently, competent people summed up the Romanian. For some reason, her coach does not read lectures about mistakes that need to be paid for. He was silent for a week, and now he desperately supports his ward, sympathetically saying that he believes her. Still not to believe: after all, Simone said publicly that she had never taken doping.

No less amusing is the reaction of the tennis world to this episode – only words of support are heard from colleagues against the violator. Athletes really shouldn’t spread rot on each other – it’s not known who karma will overtake next. But it is unlikely that the point here is that those who condemned Sharapova yesterday realized today that any of them could fall under the distribution. Rather, it all boils down to double standards.