US superstars Serena and Venus Williams and Simone Biles given drugs exemption, Russian hackers reveal

There is no suggestion the TUEs granted to the Williams sisters, Biles and Delle Donne were anything but legitimate under current anti-doping rules
There is no suggestion the TUEs granted to the Williams sisters, Biles and Delle Donne were anything but legitimate under current anti-doping rules

Secret records for the Williams sisters and Simone Biles have been leaked online after “criminal” Russian hackers broke into the database which monitors athletes for drugs testing.

A cyber-espionage group published confidential documents about three of sport’s biggest female stars, warning it was “just the tip of the iceberg” of a planned wave of leaks of the records of competitors from last month’s Olympics.

The International Olympic Committee and World Anti-Doping Agency condemned the actions of a group the latter identified as Tsar Team (APT28), which aligned itself with the Anonymous network of online activists.

The hackers, nicknamed Fancy Bears, attempted to justify the publication by claiming it was exposing the scale of authorised drug use by athletes.

The leaked documents indicated tennis legends the Williams sisters, Rio 2016 gymnastics superstar Biles and US basketball player Elena Delle Donne were granted medical exemptions – known as Therapeutic Use Exemptions – over several years to take otherwise banned substances.

Biles responded tonight by saying: "Having ADHD, and taking medicine for it is nothing to be ashamed of nothing that I'm afraid to let people know."

Hackers gained access to Wada’s Anti-Doping Administration and Management System (ADAMS) via an IOC-created account for the Olympics using what was described as “spear-phishing of email accounts” to obtain account passwords.

The documents were published days after Wada revealed that its systems had been bombarded by daily attacks since Russian track-and-field athletes were banned from the Olympics and the country was thrown out of the Paralympics for state-sponsored doping.

Elena Delle Donne's details were also leaked
Elena Delle Donne's details were also leaked

Wada director general Olivier Niggli said: “Wada deeply regrets this situation and is very conscious of the threat that it represents to athletes whose confidential information has been divulged through this criminal act.

“Wada condemns these ongoing cyber-attacks that are being carried out in an attempt to undermine Wada and the global anti-doping system.

“Wada has been informed by law-enforcement authorities that these attacks are originating out of Russia. Let it be known that these criminal acts are greatly compromising the effort by the global anti-doping community to re-establish trust in Russia.” 

The head of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, Travis Tygart – who famously brought down Lance Armstrong – said: “The cyber-bullying of innocent athletes being engaged by these hackers is cowardly and despicable.” 

Wada said it was carrying out internal and external security vulnerability checks following the hack. On a website set up to publish the documents, Fancy Bears wrote: “Greetings citizens of the world. Allow us to introduce ourselves… We are Fancy Bears’ international hack team. We stand for fair play and clean sport.

“We announce the start of #OpOlympics. We are going to tell you how Olympic medals are won. We hacked World Anti-Doping Agency databases and we were shocked with what we saw.

“We will start with the US team, which has disgraced its name by tainted victories. We will also disclose exclusive information about other national Olympic teams later. Wait for sensational proof of famous athletes taking doping substances any time soon. 

“We are Anonymous. We are legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us. Anonymous - #OpOlympics.” 

It added: “After detailed studying of the hacked Wada database we figured out that dozens of American athletes had tested positive. The Rio Olympic medalists [sic] regularly used illicit strong drugs justified by certificates of approval for therapeutic use. In other words they just got their licences for doping.” 

There is no suggestion the TUEs granted to the Williams sisters, Biles and Delle Donne were anything but legitimate under current anti-doping rules. However, there has been controversy in the past about the use of medical exemptions in sport and the leaks seem designed to reignite that debate.

The IOC said in a statement that none of the athletes whose data was leaked had violated anti-doping rules during Rio 2016. It added: “The IOC strongly condemns such methods which clearly aim at tarnishing the reputation of clean athletes.” 

The hack was the second successful cyber-attack on the agency after the ADAMS password of the woman who blew the whistle on state-sponsored doping in Russia, Yuliya Stepanova, was also obtained.

Former doper Stepanova has been in hiding in the US with her husband, Vitaly Stepanov, a former anti-doping official, since testifying against her country.

Russian track-and-field athletes were banned from the Olympics and the country was thrown out of the Paralympics for state-sponsored doping
Russian track-and-field athletes were banned from the Olympics and the country was thrown out of the Paralympics for state-sponsored doping Credit: AP

Stepanov said he did not know who had accessed his wife’s account but claimed the couple were being watched by Russian authorities.

Stepanova also revealed that she had moved her family to another location following the hack.

“The only reason somebody would hack an ADAMS account is to find out your exact location,” she said. “We decided it was safer to relocate. If something happens to us then you should know that it is not an accident.” 

The Williams sisters’, Biles’s and Donne’s doping records were released on the same day as the Court of Arbitration for Sport announced that its decision on Maria Sharapova’s appeal against her two-year drugs ban would be issued in the first week of next month.

The Russian was banned by the ITF in June for taking meldonium before her Australian Open defeat by Serena Williams. Meldonium was added to Wada’s prohibited list at the start of the year.

 

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