Of the 29 athletes targeted in the cyber attacks, 10 are American, five are British, five are German and there are one each from Romania, Denmark, Poland and the Czech Republic.
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Among those athletes are 14 medal winners at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
The WADA statement confirming this attack explicitly blamed the “Russian cyber hackers, “Fancy Bear” [aka Tsar Team (APT28)]” in apparent retaliation for the investigations by Dick Pound and Richard McLaren that led to a blanket ban of all but one athlete from the nation’s track and field team and 118 athletes in all.
The agency further assures the affected athletes “that we are receiving intelligence and advice from the highest level law enforcement and IT security agencies that we are putting into action”, said WADA director general Olivier Niggli in a WADA statement issued after the latest attack.
WADA said on Wednesday the cyber attack is an attempt to undermine the global anti-doping system and claimed that Russian hackers were behind the cyber attacks.
WADA recommended banning all Russian athletes from the Olympics, after an independent report said the country operated a state-sponsored doping program during the 2014 Sochi Winter Games.
This follows the release on Tuesday (September 13) by the same hackers of TUEs belonging to America’s four-time Olympic gymnastics gold medallist Simone Biles, basketball player Elena Delle Donne and tennis superstars Serena and Venus Williams.
Russian Federation completely ruled out any involvement in the hacking attack on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s database.
“The cyber-bullying of innocent athletes being engaged by these hackers is cowardly and despicable”, added Tygart, the anti-doping czar who famously helped expose U.S. cyclist and dope cheat Lance Armstrong. There is no suggestion any of the athletes broke any rules.
The hackers – going by the name Fancy Bears – have been heavily linked to Russian Federation.
Froome was not anxious by the leak, saying: “I’ve openly discussed my TUEs with the media and have no issues with the leak which only confirms my statements”.
The International Olympic Committee said after Tuesday’s WADA statement that it “strongly condemns such methods which clearly aim at tarnishing the reputation of clean athletes”.
The latest batch of documents suggest that three-time Tour de France victor Froome had a TUE for prednisolone, which is used to treat a variety of inflammatory and autoimmune conditions, for five days in May 2013 at the Critérium du Dauphiné and seven days in April 2014 during the Tour of Romandie.
The files purport to show approvals by doctors for the athletes to use otherwise banned medications like Adderall or hydrocortisone for medical reasons.
WADA reported twice this week that hackers known as Fancy Bears illegally gained access to its Anti-Doping Administrative Management System (ADAMS).
A British Cycling spokesman said: “We’re proud of our strong anti-doping culture at British Cycling”.
Bradley Wiggins is yet to comment publicly on the matter.
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“The list of doping addicts includes not only the athletes of the top Olympic teams but also those who compete for other countries”, the group said in a statement, while promising there will be more leaks to come. Please see our terms of service for more information.
