Latvia expressed sadness on Wednesday over the banning of the drug that has cast a pall over the career of tennis star Maria Sharapova, describing it as “one of the most significant accomplishments” of the tiny nation’s scientists.
The five-time grand slam champion has revealed she tested positive in January for the drug meldonium, which its Latvian inventor once said had been used to toughen up Soviet troops fighting at high altitudes three decades ago.
