Sharapova's tennis is now a topic of discussion once again. But this time, it's for a history-making act she wants no part of. Sharapova is the first premier tennis star in history to fail a doping test, and has admitted to using the banned endurance-enhancing drug known as
meldonium. What Maria Sharapova admitted On Monday, March 7, Sharapova admitted that she had failed a doping test, because she had been using a substance called meldonium, which is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), for most of her pro career. But she says her failed test was due to the fact that meldonium was only recently banned and she failed to recognize the updated list. "I had been legally taking the medicine for the past 10 years, but on January 1 the rules had changed, and meldonium became a prohibited substance, which I had not known," she told reporters at a press conference in Los Angeles.
Many pro and Olympic-level athletes have a team of people who support them — lawyers, handlers, assistants, coaches, managers — to ensure that oversights like this don't happen. To give Sharapova the benefit of the doubt, perhaps she keeps her team small