Maria Sharapova’s unlucky 2016 has just taken a turn for the worst. The tennis star was caught up in a doping scandal and is barred from competing at the Summer Olympic Games next month in Rio de Janeiro, following the announcement that the Court of Arbitration for Sport had postponed her appeal ruling until September. Sharapova and the International Tennis Federation jointly came to the agreement to delay the ruling to better prepare the case.
Sharapova is facing a two-year ban from tennis after a doping scandal came to light earlier this year, in which she tested positive for Meldonium in a January drug test during the Australian Open. The athlete cited using the drug for various health issues for the past decade, but claimed she was not aware that it was added to the list of banned substances by the World Anti-Doping Agency as of January 1 of this year. The five-time Major Champion filed to appeal the sentence, which restricts her from competing until January 2018. On top of the ban, Sharapova lost valuable endorsement deals from Nike, Porsche and TAG Heuer as a result of the doping revelations.
Sharapova’s home country of Russia will be reeling from the star’s absence in Rio. She won a silver medal in singles competition four years ago at the London Olympics, where she also served as the flag bearer for Team Russia at the games’ opening ceremony.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport announced that a verdict is expected to be reached by September 19, meaning the former world No. 1 will also be ineligible to play the final Grand Slam of the year, the U.S. Open, which wraps up on September 11.
Although her tennis career may have hit a bump, the 29-year-old is not sitting idly by. She took to Twitter last month to announce her enrollment in Harvard Business School, presumably to help her enhance Sugarpova, her line of signature candy and sweet treats.
Despite Sharapova’s absence, plenty of other notable players will compete for a medal in Rio, with newly crowned Wimbledon champ Serena Williams heading the list. Not able to catch the Olympic tennis action in South America? The pros head to New York at the end of August for the U.S. Open, where select tickets are available at TicketNetwork.com.