Performance enhancement...

Maria Sharapova has failed a drug test for meldonium, a medication which she has taken, on her doctor’s advice, for the last ten years… but which was added to the list of banned, ‘performance enhancing’ drugs in January. It must be difficult to keep up with the latest findings (especially as the drug she took had the brand name of ‘mildronate’). A drug that is acceptable today might be banned tomorrow, and the whole concept of ‘performance enhancement’ can seem a bit random. We don’t penalise athletes for choosing a healthy diet, for example, or training at high altitudes. The promises to “rid the sport of drug cheats” can sound a bit hollow when it’s routinely acknowledged that “winning is all that matters”…