Agency officials said Tuesday that they had been hacked by Russian hackers and that multiple star athletes – including Venus and Serena Williams – had their medical information released. She wrote, “Please know, I believe in clean sport, have always followed the rules, and will continue to do so as fair play is critical to sport and is very important to me”.
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The four-time Olympic gold medalist added: “Having ADHD, and taking medicine for it is nothing to be ashamed of nothing that I’m afraid to let people know”.
“I was disappointed to learn today that my private, medical data has been compromised by hackers and published without my permission”, Williams said in a statement.
A hack of the World Anti-Doping Agency has drawn attention to the commonly prescribed medications that are prohibited for use during the Olympics without a medical waiver.
Venus Williams meanwhile expressed “disappointment” at the breach, stating: “I am one of the strongest supporters of maintaining the highest level of integrity in competitive sport”.
WADA said it is reaching out to the national anti-doping organisations and global federations whose athletes are impacted by the latest data release to provide support.
“It can be definitely said that any involvement of Moscow, the Moscow government, and any Russian services in such actions is impossible”, the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
The drug testing results for star basketball player Elena Delle Donne were also revealed in the hack.
“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 Pound and McLaren investigations that exposed state-sponsored doping in Russian Federation”, said Niggli.
The gymnast was among a series of top US athletes, which included Serena Williams, who were the target of a Russian group calling itself “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 Pound and McLaren investigations that exposed state-sponsored doping in Russian Federation”.
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Reedie, whose body advocated a ban on all Russian athletes at the Rio Games before the International Olympic Committee controversially ruled federations should decide on the eligibility of each one in their respective sports to compete, said the hacking had to stop.
