From Inside the Games
Anti-doping bodies have fiercely criticised Russian hackers for leaking confidential documents about leading United States athletes in order to accuse them of illegal drug use.
Documents published on the Fancy Bears website today following a cyber-attack on the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appear to show Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUEs) received by tennis superstars Venus and Serena Williams and four-time Olympic gold medal winning gymnast Simone Biles.
Basketball star Elene Della-Donne was also targeted.
It is alleged the quartet failed tests for banned substances which they had received special permission to use.
They claim this proves the athletes had been granted “licenses for doping” and that this is thus “evidence that WADA and the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Medical and Scientific Department are corrupt and deceitful”.
TUEs are granted when athletes have illnesses or conditions that require them to take medications which fall under the WADA Prohibited List.
There is thus no evidence that any of the athletes are doing anything illegal.
This follows similar hacks on WADA last month, in which information was obtained on Yuliya Stepanova, the Russian whistleblower who made the allegations which prompted the investigations on Russian doping.