Perhaps most peculiar, though, is the fact that meldonium, a heart drug, was banned in the first place. Tennis star Maria Sharapova admitted to taking meldonium at the 2016 Australian Open, which earned her a 15-month ban , and enough members of Russia’s under-18 hockey squad tested positive for the stuff that the team was replaced en masse before the 2016 world championships. After meldonium was banned, athletes largely from Eastern European countries failed more than 170 doping tests due to the drug, including Sharapova. Dr. Olivier Rabin, WADA’s science director, noted that after the Sharapova scandal, the group banned meldonium in part because everyone was doing it. They have to react to events.”In the case of meldonium, that meant banning a drug without conclusive evidence that it enhances athletic performance.

Source: Huffington Post February 20, 2018 22:41 UTC