Originally Posted by Irishguy123:
“The fact that Lepchenko has literally suffered zero backlash has just astonished me tbh. I mean, are people not aware that this is the exact same thing Sharapova was taking? I know it was proved that she stopped taking it before 2016, but she was obviously taking it for performance enhancing purposes too, so why no backlash? Sharapova's a big doper and her whole career is a lie because she took meldonium for three weeks longer than Lepchenko did? It's a bit baffling to me tbh.
I've never been a fan of the whole "anti-Russian propaganda!!1!" thing that gets bandied about online a lot, but it's impossible to rule it out either. Would this have really happened to Sharapova if she'd been playing for the US? Doubt it.”
“The fact that Lepchenko has literally suffered zero backlash has just astonished me tbh. I mean, are people not aware that this is the exact same thing Sharapova was taking? I know it was proved that she stopped taking it before 2016, but she was obviously taking it for performance enhancing purposes too, so why no backlash? Sharapova's a big doper and her whole career is a lie because she took meldonium for three weeks longer than Lepchenko did? It's a bit baffling to me tbh.
I've never been a fan of the whole "anti-Russian propaganda!!1!" thing that gets bandied about online a lot, but it's impossible to rule it out either. Would this have really happened to Sharapova if she'd been playing for the US? Doubt it.”
The Lepchenko thing does make me think they chose to make an example of Sharapova, I think they went after her for 3 reasons.
1. Her profile in the sport, and sport in general.
2. She has 5 slams, so use of meldonium is treated harshly because it may have contributed to her success. People care more about Sharapova because they have actually heard of her for a start. People like Lepchenko can be ignored because they aren't any where near as successful.
3. That ridiculous press conference!
Meldonium use goes far beyond Maria, yet nobody seems interested in them. Thats my issue with the ban, why Maria? Why just her? If they were going to come down hard on the players caught using it, they should have punished them all.




”
At least be consistent about it.