WADA confirmed on Saturday that Stepanova’s password for WADA’s Anti-Doping Administration and Management System (ADAMS) was illegally obtained, and her account in the system hacked into.
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Stepanova, who served a two-year ban for blood passport abnormalities in 2013, said she has moved her family, including her young son, to another location after the account was hacked.
WADA said it had “immediately locked Ms Stepanova’s account to prevent further access and notified her of the situation”.
Athletes are required to enter their location details in their WADA accounts along with a fixed time in which they can be tested for doping each day in out-of-competition routine tests.
Stepanova and her husband, Vitaly Stepanov, along with their young child, have been in hiding since leaving Russian Federation in 2014 after providing information that formed the basis of the investigation into the country’s state-sponsored doping scheme.
Unconfirmed sources have also revealed to USA Today that her email account has been intruded upon in a bid to know where she is.
Stepanova angered Tsar Putin when her whistleblowing cost more than 100 Russians their place at the Rio Games.
The IOC considered a ban of all Russian athletes from the Rio Olympics based on the state-sponsored doping allegations, but decided against it, leaving the final decisions with the global sports federations.
Stepanova, an 800-meter runner, petitioned the International Olympic Committee to compete here as a neutral athlete since the Russian Olympic Committee said it would not name her to the team.
WADA explained that it is contact with “the relevant law enforcement authorities” and that it has always been a target for hackers.
Following an alleged hack on its website last week, Wada officials said some of its users had received phishing scam emails claiming to be from the anti-doping agency and which tried to trick athletes into providing their passwords. “So we decided it would be safer if we relocate”. “We are trying to take every measure possible to keep ourselves safe, which is why we moved”.
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The IOC denied that, saying it did so because of her history of doping.
