Gold medalist Simone Biles has found herself in the middle of a drug scandal after she along with Serena and Venus Williams became the latest victims of a computer hack.
According to ABC News, a Russian computer hacking group called, Fancy Bear, were able to leak documents from the World Anti-Doping Agency’s database, uncovering the medical records of multiple athletes who played in the Rio 2016 Olympic games.
“We are going to tell you how Olympic medals are won,” Fancy Bear said on its website. “We hacked World Anti-Agency databases and we were shocked with what we saw. We will start with the U.S. team which has disgraced its name by tainted victories. We will also disclose exclusive information about other national Olympic teams later. Wait for sensational proof of famous athletes taking doping substances any time soon.”
Documents show that the Williams sisters and Biles have been given medical exemption in order to use drugs that were banned in the sporting world. WADA issued a statment confirming the breach and says that they are taking the threat very seriously.
“WADA deeply regrets this situation and is very conscious of the threat that it represents to athletes whose confidential information has been divulged through this criminal act,” said Olivier Niggli, Director General, WADA. “We are reaching out to stakeholders, such as the IOC, IFs and NADOs, regarding the specific athletes impacted,” he continued.
“WADA condemns these ongoing cyber-attacks that are being carried out in an attempt to undermine WADA and the global anti-doping system,” said Niggli. “WADA has been informed by law enforcement authorities that these attacks are originating out of Russia,” he continued. “Let it be known that these criminal acts are greatly compromising the effort by the global anti-doping community to re-establish trust in Russia further to the outcomes of the Agency’s independent McLaren Investigation Report,” Niggli continued.
WADA is taking this attack very seriously. The Agency extended its investigation with the relevant law enforcement authorities; is conducting internal and external security vulnerability checks; and, is taking the necessary measures to ensure that stakeholders securely manage ADAMS passwords and its usage.
While Serena and Venus have yet to comment, Simone took to Twitter to clear her name and offer a reason why she has been medically exempt to use certain drugs.
— Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) September 13, 2016
Having ADHD, and taking medicine for it is nothing to be ashamed of nothing that I'm afraid to let people know.
— Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) September 13, 2016
To back her, the USA Gymnastics association also defended Biles on Twitter:
“USA Gymnastics recently learned that the database of the World Anti-Doping Association (WADA) has been hacked and that drug-testing reports for several U.S. Olympic athletes, including Simone Biles, have been breached. In keeping with official protocols of the U.S. Anti-Doping Association and WADA, Biles submitted and was approved for a therapeutic-use exemption (TUE), the proper paperwork for any medications that an athlete takes for an illness or condition that requires the use of a medication included on the WAFA Prohibited Drug List, for prescribed medication(s) she takes. By virtue of the TUE, Biles has not broken any drug-testing regulations, including at the Olympic Games in Rio.”
USA Gymnastics statement regarding Simone Biles and WADA hack: pic.twitter.com/YTq2iVS7Vu
— USA Gymnastics (@USAGym) September 13, 2016
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Source: https://www.wada-ama.org/en/media/news/2016-09/wada-confirms-attack-by-russian-cyber-espionage-group
http://abcnews.go.com/International/anti-doping-agency-russian-hackers-published-athletes-medical/story?id=42063565
