Three-time Tour de France champion Chris Froome and five-time Olympic gold medallist Sir Bradley Wiggins were among the athletes whose stolen details were published online by Fancy Bears.
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The medical data of 29 athletes from eight countries, nearly half of them from the United States, has now been stolen from WADA by a Russian-based cyber espionage group called Tsar Team (APT28), or “Fancy Bears”, and published online.
The others are golfer Charley Hull and rugby sevens player, Heather Fisher.
The information shows both Wiggins and Froome have previously taken substances on WADA’s banned list, but only after receiving a therapeutic use exemption (TUE) so show they were required for verified medical needs – there is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by the riders or British Cycling.
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”.
The medical records don’t suggest the athletes did anything wrong, because each seems to have received a therapeutic-use exemption from WADA.
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.
Froome says he has “no issues” with the leaks, pointing out he has spoken publicly about being granted TUEs before.
The other Australian rower whose records were leaked on Friday, Rio silver medalist Alexander “Sasha” Belonogoff, also carries an EpiPen because of a food allergy, Rowing Australia said.
Wiggins’ spokesman said: “Everyone knows Brad suffers from asthma; 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”.
This time, WADA said the hackers released data of 25 athletes from the United States, Germany, Britain, Czech Republic, Denmark, Poland, Romania and Russian Federation.
The release came on the same day as Russian president Vladimir Putin denied Kremlim involvement but said the leaking of the confidential medical data from the Olympic athletes was “of interest to the worldwide public”.
WADA president Craig Reedie told CNN Thursday that the hacking of confidential files by the cyber criminal group “Fancy Bear” was clearly a retaliatory attack after 118 of Russia’s athletes were banned from competing at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games following revelations of “state-sponsored” doping.
“This is an unacceptable and outrageous breach of medical confidentiality that attempts to smear innocent athletes who have not committed any doping offense”, said Bach.
WADA also repeated its belief the attacks are being carried out as retaliation for the agency’s investigations that exposed state-sponsored doping in Russian Federation.
The report quoted WADA’s director general, Olivier Niggli, who condemned the attack in no uncertain terms. “The program is a rigorous and necessary part of elite sport; and, it has overwhelming acceptance from athletes, physicians, and all anti-doping stakeholders”, the agency said.
Sapstead said she was “incredibly concerned and disappointed” that personal data of athletes had gone into the public domain in the way it has, describing it as “incredibly distressing”.
Although similar to messages from other anti-doping bodies, this marks a significant sign of solidarity from the International Olympic Committee given their perceived reluctance to stand alongside WADA and strongly criticise Russian Federation following allegations earlier this year of state-sponsored doping in the country. In a fresh release, the group this time published confidential data of 25 athletes, from eight countries. Many Russian athletes missed out on the Rio Olympics as a result of the findings.
Meanwhile Dr Jeroen Swart, the world renowned South African physiologist who conducted a range of tests on Chris Froome past year, told the Guardian that, while the renewed attention on the use – and potential misuse – of TUEs was welcome, there were other performance enhancement issues in sport that needed addressing. Applications submitted to UKAD are assessed by at least three independent medics and are then referred to WADA, which has further independent oversight of applications.
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“I don’t think it’s appropriate to publicise an athlete’s personal medical condition or the substance they are being subscribed”.
