Tennis player Maria Sharapova tested positive for the banned drug – but it’s not clear how much it really improves an athlete’s performance, anyway.

Tennis star Maria Sharapova has admitted to testing positive for meldonium, a drug banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

"I was given this medicine by my doctor for several health issues I was having back in 2006," Sharapova said in a press conference on Monday. She mentioned repeatedly catching the flu, magnesium deficiency, irregular EKG results, and a family history of diabetes as health issues the drug helped with. "It made me healthy and that's why I continued to take it," she said.

Adam Davy / PA WIRE

Russian ice dancer Ekaterina Bobrova, Russian cyclist Eduard Vorganov, and Ukrainian biathletes Olga Ambramova and Artem Tyshchenko have all reportedly failed drug tests because of meldonium this year.

What is meldonium?

Meldonium, also known as mildronate, is a drug used to treat heart conditions. It was developed in Latvia at the Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis.

The drug was added to WADA's prohibited list in January 2016, after the organisation spent a year monitoring its use among athletes. It was added to the list "because of evidence of its use by athletes with the intention of enhancing performance".

en.wikipedia.org

Meldonium is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration, so you can't get it on prescription in the US. It's not available in the UK either. You can, however, get it prescribed or buy it over the counter in many eastern European countries. The Associated Press managed to buy some in Moscow, Russia, on Tuesday.

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