“His medical treatment is BC- (British Cycling) and UCI- (International Cycling Union) approved and like all Team GB athletes he follows WADA regulations to the letter”.
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The leak of Wiggins and Froome’s records forced the British cycling greats to defend their medical use of otherwise-banned drugs. There is no suggestion any of the athletes broke any rules.
Included in the second batch are records from Team Sky rider Froome, who last December voluntarily released data from lab tests he submitted to following his 2015 Tour de France victory amid accusations of doping.
Wiggins was given exemption to take a medication for an allergy to grass pollen, while Froome is known to have previously required medication for exacerbated asthma.
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.
In a statement, WADA said: “The targeted athletes include 10 from the United States, five from Germany, five from Great Britain, one from the Czech Republic, one from Denmark, one from Poland, one from Romania, and one from Russian Federation”.
“To call into question the use of a substance administered by a doctor in a hospital emergency department to combat a severe allergic reaction is beyond disappointing”, Brennan said. “In each of the situations, the athlete has done everything right in adhering to the global rules for obtaining permission to use a needed medication”, he said in a statement.
Tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams on court at the Rio 2016 Olympics.
The statement on behalf of Wiggins said the leak was “an attempt to undermine the credibility of WADA and that’s something for them to deal with”.
WADA director general Olivier Niggli said the hacking of the agency would hamper Russian efforts to reintegrate into the sports world.
Niggli said the hack on WADA’s computer system constituted “retaliation” against the agency, which imposed heavy penalties against Russian Federation over doping, including banning practically its entire athletics team from the Rio Olympics.
Russian officials have dismissed the claims as ridiculous.
She reiterated that Russia denies any role in the hacks, saying: “For Russia just like for the rest of the world, hackers and hacking are outside the law”. “It is very “in” now”.
Stepanova was the key whistleblower who helped expose widespread doping among Russian athletes. “She (Blume) has obviously become a pawn in larger worldwide game, in which Russian forces seem to be moving focus from the documented systematic circumvention of the doping rules that has taken place in Russia”, said Michael Ask, director of the Danish NADO in a statement.
The agency is also in contact with the relevant NADOs and IFs whose athletes are impacted by this latest data release so that they can provide them with the necessary support.
The hackers, who have set up their own website, have not responded to messages seeking comment. Fancy Bear contends that TUEs are essentially “licenses for doping”, but nothing to this point has been revealed that implicates any of these athletes in any wrongdoing.
In a news release, WADA acknowledged the hacker group likely accessed the information via spear-phishing of email accounts and that the group might release more sensitive medical information in a bid to expose “the US Olympic team and their dirty methods to win”.
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Well keep on telling the world about doping in elite sports, the group said Thursday. “Stay tuned for new leaks”. Doing so may result in civil and/or criminal penalties.
