Maria Sharapova still doesn’t think her doping issue was her fault, at all

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About thirteen months ago, the sports world was rocked when Maria Sharapova gave a press conference to admit that she had tested positive for a banned substance. She was initially given a two-year suspension, but she appealed and had the suspension chopped down to 15 months, despite widespread reporting that Sharapova had already been warned about the suspicious banned substance, meldonium. She’s about to make her comeback on clay next week in Germany, and she’ll probably get to play at the French Open this year too. Part of her “comeback story” involves Maria giving interviews about how she’s generally happy and looking forward to her comeback. I thought she came across as haughty in her Vogue interview last month, just as I think she comes across poorly in this interview from The Time Magazine over the weekend. Some highlights:

The banned substance: “I didn’t even know what meldonium was. I had to google it to find out. To me, it was Mildronate.”

It’s not her fault: Sharapova also hit out at the International Tennis Federation for the way they handled the banning of meldonium claiming someone should have told her at the Fed Cup in Prague in November 2015. “It was an ITF event so why didn’t someone come up to me and have a private conversation, just an official to an athlete, which would have taken care of the confidentiality problem they talked about later? But nothing was said by anyone.”

She claims that men find her too intimidating, but she’s been dating: “’I have enjoyed going out with different people from different cultures in different professions. From that perspective, I’m all over the map.”

[From The Sun]

The conceit of what she says is rather astounding, right? She hasn’t been apologetic or even humbled whatsoever throughout this entire ordeal. In her mind, she didn’t do anything wrong and it’s still not her fault. It’s always someone else’s fault. It’s not her fault she didn’t keep up with the banned substances list. It’s not her fault she had been taking a performance-enhancing drug for years. It’s not her fault that no one from the ITF came up to her and personally warned her that she was taking a banned substance, even if the banned substances lists are literally sent to every player and every player’s team. As for men being intimidated by her… well, I feel like most of the players don’t want to associate with her because of the doping, not because she’s so beautiful and successful, but whatever.

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Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet and The Times.

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38 Responses to “Maria Sharapova still doesn’t think her doping issue was her fault, at all”

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  1. Mike says:

    I think she is just not a nice person. How many friends does she have on the tour? How may people rushed to her defense when she got suspended? Maybe she is less intimidating and more unlikable. But then that would mean taking some responsibility instead of casually blaming everybody else in the world

    • Kaiser says:

      I think Djokovic defended her last year and that’s all. And players are so pissed that she’s getting Wild Cards to play at all of these major events too.

  2. Pumpkin Pie says:

    What would a professional athlete need privileged treatment as in an official talking to them about the issue? It’s their own responsibility. Period.

  3. TheOtherOne says:

    It must be nice. All I can think of is – imagine if Serena had been caught doping and then dared give an interview accepting NO responsibility. Maria is truly insufferable.

  4. DahliaDee says:

    I hope she gets her arse handed to her on the court. Hard.

  5. Daisy says:

    For the most part, I like that she doesn’t play the usual poor little Eastern European girl who made it , but she should find another angle.

  6. Ashley.Nate says:

    Typical privileged white women refusing to take responsibility and society coddling them.
    Next!

    • Daisy says:

      Eastern Europeans don’t really get treated like other white people. She is pretty, rich and very americanised, so I wouldn’t call her typical.

      • Ashley.Nate says:

        Like I said, typical white women. Refusing to acknowledge their privilege, and acting like victims. So miss me with that “but but but…” 😏

    • Livealot says:

      X1000000000

  7. Shambles says:

    Even that cover photo. She oozes entitlement and assholery from her very cheekbones.

  8. BearcatLawyer says:

    You’re an athlete, Maria. It’s your job to know what is going in your body and whether it is allowed or not. The only takeaway message I am receiving from these interviews is that you are incompetent in your job. I suppose these explains why you have lost so many times to Serena then.

    • spidey says:

      and why did she not question that she had to get it from abroad because it was not available in the States where she lives?

      • Another Nina says:

        Because there is plenty of medications which are not available in the US due to high costs of obtaining FDA approval. Mildronate is widely used in Eastern Europe and basically allows to calm heart after intense training. Actually, I got prescribed it when I returned to gym after taking time off due to surgery…

  9. naomipaige says:

    I think she should be banned from the sport for life due to her arrogance.

  10. poppy says:

    broken record here but for her to claim she didn’t know is complete BS.
    she literally has a an entire team managing her. they all knew because they were all informed of the changes/updates.
    they assumed because she’s so “great” she wouldn’t be targeted.
    BS lame “excuses”.

    yes, please all future opponents trounce her entitled privileged @ss.

  11. swak says:

    Does anyone take responsibility for their mistakes any more?

  12. HK9 says:

    While most of us don’t believe her, she knows that since she’s a blonde, she can play dumb and get away with this, which is the route she’s chosen to take.

  13. Sam Vimes says:

    I’ve worked with amateur athletes who are often asked to promote various supplements, protein shakes etc.,y’know what the first thing they do is – check or have someone check and double check all the ingredients off the banned list for their sports. If they’re put on a medication by their doctor – same procedure. And these are people holding down full time jobs alongside their sport. If your sport is your job like Sharapova then you have absolutely no excuse for not checking those lists!
    I know guys that won’t even drink out of anybody else’s water bottle or eat anyone else’s home cooked meals because at the end of the day you, as in the athlete, are the one who is responsible for what goes into your body.
    She needs to shut up, take responsibility and hopefully go away!

  14. Sana says:

    What I’m really interested in seeing is how well she performs in the truly grueling matches now that she is no longer taking the banned substance. Does she still win grand slams based on her mediocre athleticism or will we actually see the true level of her game? Unless she is has found another performance enhancing drug not yet on the banned list.

    • Another Nina says:

      To be clear, it’s a medication, which allows your heart to survive after gruelling training…It’s usually prescribed to people, who have some problems with heart, which is Maria’s case. In other words, it’s not a performance enhancement drug per se. Now that she turns 30, I doubt we can expect her to win Wimbledon, etc.

  15. kendra says:

    She’s a cheater, who got off damn lightly. A lying, cheating cheater.

  16. Mp says:

    Superficial question…but wasnt she supossed to be like super beautiful??? Is that karma face?

    • hulk smash says:

      Idk about karma but she’s aged a lot since the last time I saw her, looks older than 30…

  17. Beth says:

    Who’s fault is it? I don’t think she’s very pretty. Maybe her attitude makes her unattractive

  18. John says:

    Get over it people. The women on tour are the ones intimidated. I hope she comes back with a complete success and takes care of business. She served her punishment. The WTA wants her back and I’m glad she still wants to play. Who else other than Serena is there to watch on the women’s tour?

    • Kersey Alcantara says:

      Finally a sensible reply from a sensible person. Kudos to you!

      • Kersey Alcantara says:

        There isn’t anybody out there other than Serena Williams who is worth watching. When both Serena & Maria decides to retire, I will cancel my tennis channel.

  19. Mezz_Dame says:

    Is she morphing into Ivanka Trump or is Ivanka morphing into her?

  20. Gia says:

    This is complete BS. She knew what she was taking. Meldonium is prescribed for heart conditions for a max. of 2-3 months. If she suffered from said heart crash condition she would not be able to even play a sport or exert herself at all. Someone taking this type of medication for YEARS is taking it to ENHANCE their performance. It allows her heart to stay at its peak for a longer period of time and allow her to exert herself unnaturally. Her and her coach and entire team knew exactly what it was and how it helps her performance.

  21. D Edmondson says:

    Leave her alone she is a great player the rest are just jealous of her she had been using it for years it must have shone in her blood test before and nobody was bothered about it,you could find wrong in everybody’s blood if you wanted,give up winging and let her play tennis you load of arseholes!,,,

    • Dani says:

      “you could find wrong in everybody’s blood if you wanted….”

      Lol…wrong. If you were to be around professional sport players you would see that generally they are very conscious of what goes into their bodies. She knew full well she was taking a banned substance and chose not to worry about it because she thought with her name and rank in the tennis world it would be ignored. She was wrong. Beyond that she is one of the most annoying players to watch with her insufferable yelling.