Iga Swiatek discusses her ‘horror and disappointment’ about her doping case, after testing positive for a banned substance called trimetazidine (TMZ) last August.
In September, she was informed of her positive test results and issued a one-month penalty, which she partially served during her absence from the Asia swing.
When asked about her reaction to the unexpected test result, Swiatek declared: “My reaction was very intense. It was a mix of confusion and panic. There was a lot of crying…. My manager said my reaction was like someone had died or something serious had happened to my health.”
She added: “I thought it might be a mistake. I really didn’t understand what was happening. The name of the substance itself was completely unfamiliar to me. I had never heard of its origin. I didn’t think much, I was just overwhelmed with emotions.”
After men’s world No. 1 Jannik Sinner, Swiatek is the second well-known athlete to test positive for a prohibited substance this year.
Moreover, Swiatek admitted: “Just stepping onto the court was painful. If it hadn’t been for my training partner, Tomek Moczek, who at the beginning was doing training sessions with me like you do with kids – we were just having fun on the court – I think I wouldn’t have gone out to practice at all… The truth is, I love playing tennis, but not enough to sacrifice my honour or my values. I was put in a situation where suddenly people could judge me very negatively because of what happened.”
In comparison with other athletes’ doping cases
She also stated that it was hard to compare her case to other athletes who also got a doping ban. Swiatek declared: “I know that people automatically need to compare such situations to others that have happened before, but the truth is that each of these cases is completely different. And the process of proving innocence will also vary accordingly.”
“It’s hard to compare me to Sinner, Halep, or Kamil Majchrzak because each of us is dealing with a different issue. I think that’s more of a question for the ITIA than for the player. My fate, just like others, was in their hands, and they decide how each case unfolds…. I trust that this process is objective, that everything is done according to the rules, and that no one judges a player either way based on their ranking.”
“What mattered most to me was that I could start the new season with a clean slate and just focus on playing,” she said.
Source: Eurosport