Tested positive at the Australian Open for a recently banned drug
Maria Sharapova has been provisionally banned from tennis after she tested positive at the Australian Open for a recently banned drug that she has been taking for 10 years for health reasons.
The drug is called meldonium, though Sharapova said she had been using it under the name of mildronate and was unaware of both the different name and the fact it is on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s banned list until she received a letter notifying her of the positive test 10 days ago.
“I let my fans down, I let the sport down that I have been playing since the age of four and I love so deeply. I know with this I face consequences and I don’t want to end my career this way and I really hope I will be given another chance to play this game.”
