Confidential medical data of gold medal-winning gymnast Simone Biles, seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams and other female U.S. Olympians was hacked from a World Anti-Doping Agency database and posted online Tuesday.
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In addition, they link Fancy Bear to attacks on France’s TV5 Monde in 2015 and the German Bundestag.
Another 48 members of Great Britain’s record-breaking Olympic team were facing their secret drug-testing records being leaked by Russian hackers last night (Thursday).
As well as storing all athletes’ anti-doping records, WADA also uses it to record their daily “whereabouts”, so testers can find them for one hour each day.
A spokesman for Wiggins said in a statement to CyclingNews that there was “nothing new” in the disclosures, and that Wiggins simply suffered from asthma.
WADA first fell victim on Tuesday when medical records relating to “therapeutic use exemptions” (TUE) granted to certain athletes were leaked.
Three-time Tour de France victor Froome previously said he is a “clean rider” following a hack on Team Sky’s computers in July 2015. But, those hoping to see a bomb blast Thursday morning were reminded that the British cycling stars are playing by the books. “I’ve openly discussed my TUEs with the media and have no issues with the leak which confirms my statements”, he declared.
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.
Chris Froome on Tour de France, fan abuse, anti-doping and the VueltaWhat are therapeutic use exemptions?
The statement on behalf of Wiggins said the leak was an attempt to undermine the credibility of WADA and thats something for them to deal with..
British golfer Charley Hull, who tied for seventh at the 2016 Olympics, and rower Sam Townsend, who helped GB finish fifth in the men’s quadruple sculls in Rio, were also named.
It also sheds light on the way athletes can use performance-enhancing substances if they have medical approval.
As with the previous data releases by the Fancy Bears, none of the information related to Froome’s or Wiggins’ TUEs is evident proof of doping.
WADA said the hackers were a “Russian cyber espionage group” called Fancy Bears.
“Given this intelligence and advice, WADA has no doubt that these ongoing attacks are being carried out in retaliation against the Agency, and the global anti-doping system, because of our independent (Dick) Pound and (Richard) McLaren investigations that exposed state-sponsored doping in Russian Federation”.
“The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) shares WADA and the other Anti-Doping Organisations condemnations of cyber-attacks to release personal data”. Froome and Wiggins were the only cyclists.
“Next week we’re looking at whether the code can be changed to cover institutionalized corruption”.
“It is risky, it breaches every bit of medical code that I would ever know, and is unhelpful if Russian Federation is making efforts to have its anti-doping system declared compliant”.
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Corticosteroid medications like prednisolone, budesonide, and triamcinolone have well-established legitimate uses: to treat chronic inflammations (such as asthma or bronchitis) and, in the case of triamcinolone, skin conditions like saddle sores.
