The anti-doping agency said the hackers were operating from Russian Federation.
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They revealed records of “Therapeutic Use Exemptions” (TUEs), which allow athletes to use otherwise-banned substances because of a verified medical need.
“The respective worldwide federations through the proper process granted the permission and it was recognised by the the IOC (International Olympic Committee) and USADA”.
Travis Tygart, chief executive of USADA, said the athletes whose data was hacked had done nothing wrong.
The IOC said it condemned methods “which are clearly aimed at tarnishing the reputation of clean athletes”. Cybersecurity company CrowdStrike identified Fancy Bear as one of the groups behind a hacking attack on the Democratic National Committee.
Venus Williams said she was “disappointed” that her medical data has been “compromised by hackers and published without.permission”.
USA Gymnastics released a statement today, saying Biles “filed the proper paperwork” for an exemption.
The United States Anti-Doping Agency said all of them had “done everything right in adhering to the global rules for obtaining permission to use a needed medication”.
Biles tested positive multiple times for methylphenidate (more common brand name is Ritalin), but she posted on Twitter that she has struggled with attention deficit disorder since she was younger, adding that she believes in “clean sport”. “Simone and everyone at USA Gymnastics believe in the importance of a level playing field for all athletes”.
WADA director general Olivier Niggli said in a statement: “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”.
Niggli revealed that WADA is now contacting those athletes involved, and hit out at the actions of the hackers, whom he claimed were trying to undermine the organisation’s efforts to stamp out the use of banned substances.
The World Anti-Doping Agency on Tuesday slammed Russian hackers who breached its database and published confidential records of US Olympic gymnast Simone Biles and tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams.
“WADA has no doubt that these ongoing attacks are being carried out in retaliation against the agency”, Niggli said.
Russian Federation was under intense scrutiny this summer after the McLaren report revealed that the country had a state-sponsored doping program and cheating scheme dating back to the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi.
Last month, hackers obtained a database password for Russian runner Yuliya Stepanova, a whistleblower and key witness for the WADA investigations.
WADA said it was taking the current situation “very seriously” and was carrying out both internal and external security checks as well as working with law enforcement authorities in a bid to protect ADAMS users. We are Fancy Bears’ global hack team.
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It says: “We are going to tell you how Olympic medals are won”. “The U.S. team played well but not fair”. The group is also accused of hacking and leaking data from the Democratic National Committee ahead of the U.S. presidential election.
