Russian hackers leak drug tests from Simone Biles, Williams sisters

WADA confirmed that it was compromised by a group of Russian hackers.

A group of Russian hackers released medical records of three prominent American athletes showing that they have medical exemptions to use banned substances. 

The group, known as Fancy Bear, published test results of gymnast Simone Biles and tennis players Serena and Venus Williams. 

WADA confirmed in a statement Tuesday that the group “illegally gained access” to WADA’s test result database. WADA believes the hackers used a phishing email scam to gain access to the information. 

The leaked Biles test result is from Aug. 11 of this year, while Serena Williams’s test is from 2014 and Venus’s is from 2012.

Biles’s exemption is for Ritalin, a common ADHD medication. She addressed the leak in two tweets.

All three athletes were cleared to use the drugs under what are called “therapeutic use exemptions.”

The hackers claimed that the test results showed the United States “played well but not fair” at the 2016 Olympics. 

Russia’s track and field team was banned from the Rio Games after revelations that the Russian government had run a state-sponsored doping program. All Russian athletes were banned from the 2016 Paralympic Games as a result of the scandal.