Maria Sharapova Research Paper

Maria Sharapova is one of the most well known tennis players. She became famous in the early 2000s and would stay relevant. Recently, Maria was caught up in a doping scandal that would affect her career. The scandal was the result of a recent change that impacted many tennis players. Maria Sharapova began playing tennis at a young age. She became a professional player when she was 14, competing at the junior Wimbledon and French Open. Two years later she won the singles title at Wimbledon. In 2011 she would be ranked as the 4th best female tennis player in the world. The next year Sharapova competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics, coming in second just behind Serena Williams. She continued playing and won 5 Grand Slam titles. In January 2016, Maria failed a drug test at the Australian Open and later announced in March that she tested positive for meldonium. She revealed that this was an ingredient in a medicine she had been taking for years to help with her magnesium deficiency. Still, this would cause her to be suspended from playing for 2 years and Nike temporarily suspending its sponsorship. …show more content…
Meldonium increases blood flow through the body, which can improve an athlete's performance. This has similar effects to blood doping, where it increase red blood cells carrying oxygen to muscles. The extra oxygen can help boost endurance. It was only recently banned by the World Anti Doping Agency. Meldonium does have uses that are beneficial. It helps with heart problems like angia, heart failure, and strokes. For athletes taking meldonium for this purpose all I can recommend is finding an alternative medication to treat the issue. Given how this was only put on the anti doping list in January of this year, there is not a readily available program for