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[darscot]

LMAO is this for real? She's been importing a drug from Eastern Europe for 10 years, and it "may have been a mistake"?

Cheaters cheat.

She started taking ten years ago considering she is from Russia she probably started taking it when she was there. When people have an issue and find a drug that works they use it. Why would she change what drug she takes? I never said taking the drug was a mistake, she took a drug that she claims had a different name, that is all too common.

P.S. The drug is not banned (for human consumption), it's not approved in the US, that does not make it illegal. It is perfectly legal and approved in Russia. Lots of drugs have a market and they stick to it, maybe there was too much competition in the US with competing products so they didn't bother getting it approved for US consumption.

 

[Mighty Chin]

I got zero issue with her taking this drug.

 

[Netherscourge]

Not shocked.

Every professional athlete is pretty much using SOMETHING these days.

Whether or not it's A.) detectable or B.) on a list is the only difference between them.

 

[perfectchaos007]

She plays for Russia and Tennis is an international sport. USA laws dont matter.

They do when you live in the USA, like she has for 26 years. She's a dual citizen. But I don't think her taking this drug was against the law to begin with...it just wasn't approved by the FDA

 

[SapientWolf]

I hope Serena's clean. I'd really like to think that Serena's complete domination is what led Sharapova to dope, and it still wasn't enough.

That's probably bad of me, but I just like Serena.

I think a lot of them are on PEDs for the healing factor. Otherwise, they'd be injured half the season. Most women don't recover from exercise related wear and tear as quickly as men do.

 

[KingSnake]

You do realize that most of the illegal drugs are legal before they are banned, right? And that they are banned for a reason. That the fact that a drug was not banned until now it makes it OK from a legal point of view but it's still no fair game. This whole PED business is a never ending race between cheating athletes to find new ones and WADA to ban them.

Yeah, most of the athletes use some kind of PED. That still doesn't make it morally OK.

 

[SenjutsuSage]

Maybe it's just me, but I'm not buying the "my family doctor gave it to me" line. I think this substance is something that she knew through whatever means, gave her an advantage of some sort and used it with that explicit purpose for years.

 

[LuuKyK]

They do when you live in the USA, like she has for 26 years. She's a dual citizen. But I don't think her taking this drug was against the law to begin with...it just wasn't approved by the FDA

You do realize that even though she lives in the US, she doenst spend the whole year there right? Top tennis players travel like every week or so. And there is nothing illegal about using drugs that are not approved by the FDA at all. Besides she was taking it for lack of magnesium and to prevent diabetes since she was very young. She said she used to get injured too often too without it so thats why she started.

 

[Champagne]

They do when you live in the USA, like she has for 26 years. She's a dual citizen. But I don't think her taking this drug was against the law to begin with...it just wasn't approved by the FDA

Do we really need to turn this thread into a discussion on how the FDA is one of the most corrupt and fucked up organizations in the world?

At this point if a drug is banned by the FDA I'm more likely to trust it than the other way around. The championing of the FDA as some shining moral compass on issues like this only highlights the ridiculous levels of eurocentrism that exist on this forum.

 

[perfectchaos007]

You do realize that most of the illegal drugs are legal before they are banned, right? And that they are banned for a reason. That the fact that a drug was not banned until now it makes it OK from a legal point of view but it's still no fair game. This whole PED business is a never ending race between cheating athletes to find new ones and WADA to ban them.

Yeah, most of the athletes use some kind of PED. That still doesn't make it morally OK.

Generally speaking, if the drug you need to enhance your performance isn't available or accessible to the western world, it's probably questionable. I know she flies the Russian flag and the drug is fine in Russia, but she has lived in the USA since she was a toddler.

You do realize that even though she lives in the US, she doenst spend the whole year there right? Top tennis players travel like every week or so. And there is nothing illegal about using drugs that are not approved by the FDA at all. Besides she was taking it for lack of magnesium and to prevent diabetes since she was very young. She said she used to get injured too often too without it so thats why she started.

Someone in this thread already debunked the notion that this drug does anything to prevent diabetes.

 

[LuuKyK]

Maybe it's just me, but I'm not buying the "my family doctor gave it to me" line. I think this substance is something that she knew through whatever means, gave her an advantage of some sort and used it with that explicit purpose for years.

If that was her intention why didnt she or her entire team even bother looking at the email that is released every year about banned substances? Or why didnt she hide from the test like Serena did in a panic room? It was clearly not intentional.

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meldonium

It's weird that she's been taking a drug not sold in the US for 10 years, while living in the US all that time.

The Kobe System.®

 

[shira]

Maybe it's just me, but I'm not buying the "my family doctor gave it to me" line. I think this substance is something that she knew through whatever means, gave her an advantage of some sort and used it with that explicit purpose for years.

They sent me an email about the new drugs on the banned list and I didn't read it

Playing dumb. This is the new "dog ate my homework" excuse

 

[theignoramus]

LMAO
Snooty tennis journalists spent years trying to body shame and smear Serena with doping allegations, so its fitting that their queen Sharapova gets caught juicing.

 

[darscot]

They sent me an email about the new drugs on the banned list and I didn't read it

Playing dumb.

Or the drug she was taking had a different name on the label.

 

[oti]

This is another story which adds to a horrible 2016 for tennis. The sport is already not doing very well and the last thing they need is one of their biggest stars banned for a drug on top of the betting scandal.

Meh. This "scandal" isn't really new. We've heard about players intentionally losing before but without names there's nothing going to happen. If it wasn't for Buzzfeed being part of the investigation and them releasing this right before AUS Open I don't believe many would care.

Why would she use a drug that's banned in the United States then? "I have a multi-million dollar tennis career, I should sabotage it by using drugs that aren't allowed in the country I live in!!"

FYI, there are more countries than the US and Sharapova is still Russian. Why would she care about the US ban if she's on the tour for the majority of the year? Where it was legal until three months ago. Again, this was dumb. She should get punished. But come on.


And screw Serena haters. That's all.

 

[May16]

I got zero issue with her taking this drug.

.

 

[Zimbardo]

lol ...let's call it 'medicine'.

yeah, let's not. let's call it a performance enhancing drug ...which she used to try and get an upper hand on the sport to in turn make millions of dollars.

another cheat exposed.

 

[shira]

Or the drug she was taking had a different name on the label.

Unacceptable. You have a team doctor that covers all of this. What the doctor is going to play dumb too? Englandski no good. Davai davai.

 

[SenjutsuSage]

LMAO
Snooty tennis journalists spent years trying to body shame and smear Serena with doping allegations, so its fitting that their queen Sharapova gets caught juicing.

EXACTLY. They so wanted this to be Serena, but it turns out to be the one person they never wanted it to be, Sharapova.

 

[darscot]

Unacceptable. You have a team doctor that covers all of this. What the doctor is going to play dumb too? Englandski no good. Davai davai.

I'm not saying she should not be punished, she is a pro athlete and its her responsibility. I'm just saying for me I can accept that this could have been an honest mistake. It's not the major scandal people are making it out to be.

 

[Angelus Errare]

LMAO
Snooty tennis journalists spent years trying to body shame and smear Serena with doping allegations, so its fitting that their queen Sharapova gets caught juicing.

Get'em!

 

[Champagne]

LMAO
Snooty tennis journalists spent years trying to body shame and smear Serena with doping allegations, so its fitting that their queen Sharapova gets caught juicing.

It's almost as if you commented in this thread before you read up on the story at all....


Oh wait, that's exactly what you did.

 

[Ikuu]

Sharapova should have got herself a panic room.

 

[Slayven]

BWAHAHAHAHAHAH folks out here taking Super Soldier Serum and Serena still clowns the fuck out of them?


LOL

 

[Cipherr]

It's almost as if you commented in this thread before you read up on the story at all....


Oh wait, that's exactly what you did.

Its still 100% true whether he read the OP or not. They can seethe for all I care.

 

[oti]

LMAO
Snooty tennis journalists spent years trying to body shame and smear Serena with doping allegations, so its fitting that their queen Sharapova gets caught juicing.

Like who? And why? Journalists? I've never heard German journalists do something like this.

 

[Hasphat'sAnts]

The amount of cognitive dissonance in this thread.

She doped and got caught. She's not gonna lose any sponsors. She'll be fine.

Some of y'all in here acting like she's the victim here lmao.

 

[LuuKyK]

LMAO
Snooty tennis journalists spent years trying to body shame and smear Serena with doping allegations, so its fitting that their queen Sharapova gets caught juicing.

How is it "juicing" if it was a legal drug?

I would also be careful about this pointing fingers thing because that Serena panic room episode was just as shady.

Not only her but most of the top players do this. Just accept it. Its not really good for the sport but its the reality.

 

[Champagne]

Its still 100% true whether he read the OP or not. They can seethe for all I care.

Equating taking a nootropic that was legal for years and years and years with "juicing"?

The only way you could possibly make that jump is by not knowing what juicing actually means.

 

[Pedrito]

Do we really need to turn this thread into a discussion on how the FDA is one of the most corrupt and fucked up organizations in the world?

At this point if a drug is banned by the FDA I'm more likely to trust it than the other way around. The championing of the FDA as some shining moral compass on issues like this only highlights the ridiculous levels of eurocentrism that exist on this forum.

You got fired by the FDA or something?

Anyway, the drug being banned by the FDA is completely beside the point. It doesn't make her more or less guilty. What it does is discredit her version that she's been taken the drug for a decade to treat multiple ailments. Her american medical team wouldn't prescribe her a latvian drug that she can't even get in North America.

And then you have multiple athletes in multiples countries getting busted for the same drug since the beginning of the year.

So it shows that it's way more likely that Sharapova was taking it as a PED, which she allowed to until this year.

 

[Instro]

I hope Serena's clean. I'd really like to think that Serena's complete domination is what led Sharapova to dope, and it still wasn't enough.

That's probably bad of me, but I just like Serena.

Wasn't she ducking tests not too long ago?

I would expect a lot of them are doing something, like all other sports.

 

[shira]

I'm not saying she should not be punished, she is a pro athlete and its her responsibility. I'm just saying for me I can accept that this could have been an honest mistake. It's not the major scandal people are making it out to be.

Several athletes have used the exact same line playing dumb. I didn't know, my doctor prescribed it, it was natural. We've already heard this song and dance a dozen times.

 

[Good Job Bob]

They sent me an email about the new drugs on the banned list and I didn't read it

Playing dumb. This is the new "dog ate my homework" excuse

She got caught her first tournament immediately after the substance was banned, so I am inclined to believe that it was indeed a slip-up from her team which makes it all the more embarrassing. May be wrong though, if they were trying to hide and still take the substance on the down low they clearly did an awful job on that front as well.

 

[Hasphat'sAnts]

Who cares about the FDA? WADA did its study and found that the drug needed to be banned. She fucked up. End of story. Now if you think she was taking this for anything other than performance enhancing purposes, I got some beach front property in Nebraska to sell you

 

[darscot]

Several athletes have used the exact same line playing dumb. I didn't know, my doctor prescribed it, it was natural. We've already heard this song and dance a dozen times.

Well I just take each situation individually, because some other person does something in a completely different situation that does not mean another person is guilty. What kind of logic are you trying apply?

 

[SenjutsuSage]

lol ...let's call it 'medicine'.

yeah, let's not. let's call it a performance enhancing drug ...which she used to try and get an upper hand on the sport to in turn make millions of dollars.

another cheat exposed.

Oh yea 'medicine,' I loved that part also.

 

[Champagne]

The rah rah Serena posts in this thread are so cute.

 

[oti]

You know who must be on drugs? Fognini. That dude is like the Captain Jack Sparrow of tennis.

 

[theignoramus]

It's almost as if you commented in this thread before you read up on the story at all....


Oh wait, that's exactly what you did.

Lets assume she "wasnt" taking the drug for performance enhancing purposes the last 10 years. Why didnt she quit using it before it ceased to be a legal substance?
edit: "I didnt click the link in the email" is not a good excuse. Some would say its not even believable.

 

[darscot]

Lets assume she "wasnt" taking the drug for performance enhancing purposes the last 10 years. Why didnt she quit using it before it ceased to be a legal substance?

Because she needed it for her health and the drug she was taking had a different name on the label. She screwed up no one is denying that but it may not be she was intentionally trying to cheat. People typically don't take drugs for ten years unless you need them for health reasons. Even to juice for ten solid years would be crazy.

 

[LuuKyK]

Lets assume she "wasnt" taking the drug for performance enhancing purposes the last 10 years. Why didnt she quit using it before it ceased to be a legal substance?

Why would she quit using a legal substance that her doctor prescribed for other reason a million years ago? I assume you mean after instead of before, and then, it would exactly prove her point. If she was trying to hide it or if she knew it was illegal she would have stopped or wouldnt have ignored that email.

 

[Maxim726X]

Not really.

The FDA is real odd about what they allow and don't allow. I had to import certain foods for a while, because I couldn't find equivalents in the United States that didn't contain Red Dye #40, which my child is allergic to. Red Dye #40 is banned in the UK, so finding foods and medications without it was easier overseas. (until Aldi started carrying what I needed. YAY!) My doctor had me getting a certain perscription through the UK because i couldn't find a dye free equivalent here in the states.

Just saying that it's not unusual to get medications not available in the US.

As with everything- Follow the money, and you'll miraculously find out which drugs are approved and which are not...

 

[Diprosalic]

Popularity of tennis in America is at an all-time low.

america isn't the world.
Tennis is doing fine WW.

 

[DSN2K]

I wonder how many tennis players stopped using it last year when it went on the watch list. Surprised she didn't dump it then.

 

[jett]

So it doesn't matter that there wasn't a moratorium? Just the reason for which she took it?

Well, then RIP career, then. Cilic took something illegal and said it was an accident (and I believe him), and he was only banned for a year.

Well this woman has been taking this shit for a decade. She can't play the accident card.

 

[Boombloxer]

LMAO
Snooty tennis journalists spent years trying to body shame and smear Serena with doping allegations, so its fitting that their queen Sharapova gets caught juicing.

And funny enough, it didn't help.

 

[Kurt Angle]

I got zero issue with her taking this drug.

she can put needles in me all day if ya know

 

[johancruijff]

You know who must be on drugs? Fognini. That dude is like the Captain Jack Sparrow of tennis.

he's just dumb as a rock, always been

 

[Pndomo]

BWAHAHAHAHAHAH folks out here taking Super Soldier Serum and Serena still clowns the fuck out of them?


LOL

Serena truly is the goat 🐐

Lol at people acting like she's a victim.

Point is she broke the rules. Ignorance is no valid reason to break laws especially when you're a famous athlete with a team of people. Don't think it was a honest mistake and I don't feel bad for her at all.