13 мин.

Крис Эверт и Патрик Макинрой высказали свое мнение о Марии и допинге в теннисе

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Очень интересные вопросы и ответы.

ESPN tennis analysts Chrissie Evert and Patrick McEnroe spoke with media Monday about a wide variety of tennis topics, on and off the court.

On: The Sharapova/Meldonium Controversy

“I think it’s really dangerous and kind of wreckless to draw conclusions or to assume anything until the medical records are shown…and also the dosage, show what the dosage has been. You know, the PEDs, the athletes that have been banned also and have been taking at least, I have read, so I have read 2000 milligrams of this drug. Maria has been taking 500 milligrams. So there is a lot of information that needs to come out first I think before anyone wants to take a stand.” – Evert

“It hasn’t been illegal to take this drug up until a few months ago. So whether or not she was taking more doses than she was supposed to, sort of what Chrissie is getting at with the medical record, even if she was taking it to enhance her performance, up until the beginning of this year, that was legal.” – McEnroe

Q- Good afternoon. For both of you, have you been surprised by the reaction of the other players to the Sharapova news? Overall, they have been fairly supportive. Why do you think that’s maybe been a little different to some of the reaction we see in other sports when an athlete tests positive?

CHRISSIE EVERT: You know, I think quite frankly it was a shock to everybody. I think everybody sort of had to process this, because, you know, Sharapova would be like the last player that ‑‑ or last athlete that you would ever think would be involved in a controversy or scandal like this. She has been such, you know, a great ambassador of the sport and so professional. She’s always had so much control over herself, you know, both on and off the court. I think everybody is just very, very shocked and surprised that this even happened, you know. Even Maria and her team, who are professional and organized ‑‑ it’s just hard to believe that they weren’t aware of the drug being recently banned. So, I mean, I think it’s more ‑‑ the other thing is, and I said this and I didn’t mean this as a slam to Maria, but Maria has chosen not to really have a lot of friends on the tour. She has isolated herself from the players. She’s probably not going to have a bunch of players rush to her defense because she’s always been very, very guarded. I mean, are you saying she has gotten support or are you surprised she hasn’t gotten support?

Q- No. I mean I think at least compared to other sports with maybe much more of a history of doping scandals which may be partly why it’s different, but there certainly has not been a more widespread condemnation. More of a measured response, at least from most of the current players.

CHRISSIE EVERT: Well, I think it’s really dangerous and kind of wreckless to draw conclusions or to assume anything until the medical records are shown. They need to get those medical records the last 10 years and show everybody. They need to get ‑‑ and also the dosage, show what the dosage has been. You know, the PEDs, the athletes that have been banned also and have been taking at least, I have read, so I have read 2000 milligrams of this drug. Maria has been taking 500 milligrams. So there is a lot of information that needs to come out first I think before anyone wants to take a stand.

PATRICK McENROE: Well, a couple of thoughts on this: No. 1 is I don’t hear too many NFL players condemning the multitude of players that test positive in their sport. It’s like nobody even questions it. I certainly understand that football is different than tennis, but, you know, they get suspended four games and it’s like no big deal. They are back playing again. I think that tennis is certainly different. There is a history of significant testing in tennis. I mean, even when I was playing I was tested, you know, a bunch of times. This is way before people even knew about most of these drugs. So that’s No. 1. No. 2 is many of the players have admitted, many of the top players especially, have admitted they do exactly what Sharapova did, which is nothing. They don’t pay attention to the e‑mails they get. They don’t read about it. They rely on their teams or their doctors or their trainer to give them the information.

CHRISSIE EVERT: Yeah.

PATRICK McENROE: So I think a lot of players at least can identify with that aspect of it, because most people say, How in the world could she not know about this? No. 3, it hasn’t been illegal to take this drug up until a few months ago. So whether or not she was taking more doses than she was supposed to, sort of what Chrissie is getting at with the medical record, even if she was taking it to enhance her performance, up until the beginning of this year, that was legal. It wasn’t illegal, let’s put it that way, to do that. So I would be surprised if she was just taking it, you know, because of these whatever health issues she said she had. But it’s somewhat murky, her story about why she started taking it. Now she’s saying, Well, she only took it a couple of times a year. The bottom line is we don’t know. But the bottom line is that it wasn’t illegal up until it was this year. The last point I will make about this is that the players are pretty smart and they are pretty savvy when they talk to the press, and they’re not going to necessarily say what they really think.

CHRISSIE EVERT: Well, and also, you know ‑‑ yeah, listen, maybe they don’t want to throw rocks at a glass house, so I don’t know. You know, I don’t know. I think everybody is being very guarded and very careful as to, you know, point the finger. And I don’t have ‑‑ by the way, I don’t have any proof, but my opinion is that, you know, science and, you know, PEDs have always seemed to be like ahead of the game, if you understand what I’m saying. I don’t want to say anymore because I don’t want to get myself in trouble. (Laughter.) I just think you need to ‑‑ there needs to be ‑‑ the medical records need to be shown to clear her. At the end of the day there needs to be some accountability for the fact that it was banned and she played the Australian Open, you know, with this in her system. I think two to four years is pretty steep, though.

Q- As you said, it says depending on what more information comes out. Could be very different depending on what the documentation shows.

CHRISSIE EVERT: Yeah. And also, if in fact she has taken 500 milligrams and the other athletes are manipulating this drug by taking 2000 milligrams, if in fact she’s taken 500, and that has proven to not help anything, not to ‑‑ you know, at that low milligram, if that wasn’t really used as a PED and she did have all these ailments, then you know what? Then that’s the answer. I don’t think anybody should draw any conclusions until all this comes out.

Q- Yeah, it’s kind of following up on that, just what are your thoughts on Andy Murray kind of came out and said just because, you know, it wasn’t illegal doesn’t mean that it wasn’t wrong. Do you agree with kind of his sentiment and, you know, kind of that ethics around that? I know, Chrissie, you mentioned this earlier, but Patrick, what do you think the punishment ‑‑ what’s a fair punishment for something like this?

PATRICK McENROE: Well, I 100% agree with Andy Murray, but everyone’s moral equivalent and moral standards are not necessarily the same. So when you say ‑‑ to me, that’s at the heart of how long this suspension is going to be, okay? Because clearly she made a massive mistake in that she didn’t read it, so she’s going to be penalized. Now the question is whether it’s going to be nine months or 18 months or two years. That would be my guess, okay, on how long she gets suspended. Is there any proof that she was taking this strictly to enhance her performance over time? Or was she taking it for a legitimate medical reason and she took it in, you know, the doses that the doctors say is supposedly how long you take it, four to six weeks. You know, you’re supposed to take it and you could take it up to two to three times a year. That’s what I have read trying to study about it. To me, that’s what’s going to determine how long a suspension she will get. Can she prove she was taking it just for that or is it going to be proven that she took it ‑‑ maybe she started taking it for that reason she said back ten years ago, that she was having some health issues and then she’s like, Oh, wow, this thing really helps. This really works. You know, I’m going to take this more often because it makes me perform better.

So, you know, I see Andy Murray’s point and I agree with him, but you can also see the other point. This is an over‑the‑counter medication that you could get in Latvia and parts of Eastern Europe. If there is an over‑the‑counter medication that is legal, you know, that makes you feel better, I could certainly see the rationale in saying, you know, I feel okay about taking this.

CHRISSIE EVERT: Yeah, I mean, I think it all comes down to just viewing the medical records and getting the doctors that took care of her ten years ago and just kind of really examining, you know, exactly what her case is.

I mean, this drug is used for angina and used for severe heart issues. I mean, there’s always suspicion when you hear what the drug is used for. But that’s why her defense ‑‑ she needs to show the medical records. They need to come out. The dosage and the correct dosage and all this information needs to come out for her. If it does come out cleanly, you know, then I would say taking ‑‑ you know, giving her ‑‑ banning her for the rest of the year would be enough. That would be my opinion.

Q- What are your thoughts on Andy’s comments? Are you in agreement with him, as well?

CHRISSIE EVERT: I don’t know. I don’t ‑‑ I don’t know. I mean, doesn’t a protein shake make you have more energy? I mean, I think that’s just so ‑‑ if something is not banned, if something is not banned, then I think an athlete can have a clear conscience by taking it. I do. But I also think at the same time that there are a lot of drugs out there like ‑‑ I think Meldonium was an example ‑‑ like the Meldoniums that do help performance that haven’t been ‑‑ that aren’t on the list.

Q- Chrissie, you said you knew there were players using performance‑enhancing drugs. I wonder if over your career ‑‑ you won 18 majors but you were runner‑up six different times to six different players. If you had suspected or if you knew ‑‑ not suspected, but if a player was caught using performance‑enhancing drugs and you had lost to that player without naming names in a final of one of those 16 majors, what would have been your reaction, and would you have expected that player to be stripped of her title?

CHRISSIE EVERT: Well, first of all, we didn’t have drug testing.

Q But now they do. What I’m asking ‑‑ If a player is found to be using performance‑enhancing drugs, any player, should they be stripped of the majors that they have won? Should it be given to the runner‑up?

CHRISSIE EVERT: I think you have to stick with ‑‑ I don’t think it’s an ‑‑ is it an individual sport decision or is it an Olympic ‑‑ I mean, is it an overall if you are caught ‑‑ you know what? Patrick? Do you want to start this? I wouldn’t know… I will tell you what. In my day, in my day, because there was no drug testing and it was more of a moral issue but it wasn’t illegal, I wouldn’t go back to the player and ‑‑ and by the way, I knew one or two players. But I wouldn’t ‑‑ if I felt that there were players that I played that were taking them, it’s after the fact. No, I wouldn’t do that. But nowadays the stakes are higher and there is a lot more out there and it’s more refined and it does definitely help. So, yeah, let me go on record and say, yes, I would strip them.

PATRICK McENROE: Absolutely, yes, they should be stripped of their titles if it’s found they took drugs during that time when they won the major. No question about it.

Q- We could clearly be in that situation if Maria has taken drugs over the last ten years and won majors during that time. So would you say…

CHRISSIE EVERT: No, but it wasn’t illegal back then, though. You can’t ‑‑ it wasn’t illegal.

PATRICK McENROE: In her case, that’s right. In her case she took something that wasn’t illegal until this year.

CHRISSIE EVERT: She took something one tournament.

PATRICK McENROE: If you want to take her prize money away from the Australian Open this year, then I’m okay with that. But I agree with Chrissie that she took something that was not illegal for whenever she took it in the past.

Q- It was found after that Peter Korda tested positive and was busted and they did not strip him of his titles, right, guys?

PATRICK McENROE: They did not but they should have.

Q- They took his prize money, right?

CHRISSIE EVERT: Yeah, I think ‑‑ I mean, if they are taking away these titles from others in other sports, I think tennis has got to look at that. Jeepers.

PATRICK McENROE: Tennis has to be the first because they are not doing it as much ‑‑ in cycling they did it, but are they going to start doing it in football and baseball? That could be tricky, right?

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