“Given this intelligence and advice, WADA has no doubt 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”. “I’ve openly discussed my TUEs with the media and have no issues with the leak which only confirms my statements”, said 2013, 2015 and 2016 Tour victor Froome in a news release.
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The publication came just a few days after Fancy Bears leaked alleged WADA documents showing that the agency had allowed USA tennis players Serena and Venus Williams, as well as Olympic gold-winning gymnast Simone Biles and basketball star Elena Delle Donne to take banned substances for “therapeutic” purposes. Everyone knows Brad suffers from asthma.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) confirmed a second round of leaked data posted online, after medical records of gold medal-winning gymnast Simone Biles and seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams were among four American female Olympians whose data was revealed Tuesday.
While Putin did not take responsibility for the hacking and leaks, he also suggested they served a goal.
According to WADA, the Russian hackers have been using a method in which they send links to WADA email account holders.
Compatriot Bradley Wiggins, who triumphed at the Tour in 2012 and last month landed a team pursuit gold to win a British record eighth Olympic Games medal, was also on the list of 25 athletes.
The personal information relates to “therapeutic use exemptions” (TUEs) that enable them to take medicine that otherwise would be banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency. Medical records from various athletes around the world are on their website.
The latest leaks again mostly detailed asthma and anti-inflammatory treatments.
The latter was controversial at the time as it was granted retrospectively to enable the 31-year-old Froome to take part in a key Tour de France warm-up race in Switzerland, despite being ill a week before.
The second batch includes a total of 25 athletes, including 10 from the United States, five from Germany, five from the United Kingdom, one from the Czech Republic, one from Denmark, one from Poland, one from Romania, and one from Russian Federation.
The report quoted WADA’s director general, Olivier Niggli, who condemned the attack in no uncertain terms. Their chosen name, Fancy Bears, appears to be a tongue-in-cheek reference to a collection of Russia-linked hackers that security researchers have blamed for a recent spate of attacks and which WADA holds responsible for the current breach.
The latest leak came as Russian President Vladimir Putin said the Kremlin frowns on such hacking, but believes the leaks include “interesting findings” that are in the “public interest” – a statement similar to the one he made about suspected Russian leaks aimed at influencing the US presidential election earlier this month.
The agency’s independent McLaren report, released in July, said Russians had swapped positive doping samples for clean ones during the 2014 Sochi Olympics with the support of the country’s secret service.
“The list of doping addicts includes not only the athletes of the top Olympic teams but also those who compete for other countries”, the group said in a statement.
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“To those athletes that have been impacted, we regret that criminals have attempted to smear your reputations in this way”, said Niggli.
