Learning English

Sharapova's failed drug test

The Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova has failed a test for a banned drug and one of her sponsors, Nike, has ended its relationship with her. In this video, Neil and Finn talk about the story and bring you some useful related language which appears on news sites around the world.

Language challenge

Which of these is NOT a phrasal verb?

a) Let off

b) Let on

c) Let over

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The story

The sportswear company Nike says it's suspending its relationship with the Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova after she announced that she'd failed a drugs test at this year's Australian Open.

Nike said it would await the outcome of an investigation.

Sharapova earlier said she had tested positive for meldonium, a drug used to treat blood flow restriction, and had failed to notice that the tennis authorities had moved it to the list of banned substances last December. She said that she had let her fans down.

Maria Sharapova

Throughout my long career I have been very open and honest about many things and I take great responsibility and professionalism in my job every single day and I made a huge mistake.

Key words and phrases

outcome
final result

tested positive
had banned drugs found in her body following a medical test

let her fans down
made her supporters disappointed by not reaching the standard they expected

suspend
stop something for a period of time

let down
made people disappointed by not reaching the standard they expected

tarnishing
making people have a lower opinion of something or someone