After the leak of documents about WADA, the Olympic sporting community is again split into two camps.
The Western world with a straight face, insists that the treatment of “serious diseases” of American Champions with the help of drugs cannot be compared to the cynical use of Mildronate Russian athletes.
Russian community asks what the disease was given to the Americans doping carte Blanche, largely realizing that any honest answer will not be obtained.
Meanwhile, the international Olympic Committee (IOC) continues to retroactively annul the victory of Russian athletes at the Olympics.
Recall, last night the hackers, who call themselves team Fancy Bear, published in the open access documents found on the computers of the world anti-doping Agency (WADA).
In the first part of the published data was information about the Williams sisters, and also about the gold medalist 2016 Olympic gymnast Simone Bilz and basketball player Elena Delle Donne.
According to the documents, they used the strongest drugs, often narcotics, during the preparation and participation in the Olympic games in Rio. Certificates WADA testified that prohibited substances (and some drugs banned in different countries at the state level), women have taken “for medical reasons”, that is, with the approval of WADA.
The hackers promised that in the future will follow new revelations.
Soon after the scandal implicated athletes commented on the situation. Tennis player Venus Williams said she is disappointed by a data breach.
“I was disappointed to learn today that my personal, medical data was hacked and published without my permission,” wrote tennis player in his microblog. Venus stressed that abide by the rules of the tennis anti-doping program, when they requested permission for the use of the drug for therapeutic purposes. This permission, according to her, they gave her after the conclusion of the “anonymous group of independent doctors and approval of legitimate medical reasons.
Basketball star Elena Delle Donne at the time of publication of data from WADA, as it turned out, was in the hospital. She posted a picture of a hospital ward with a sarcastic comment: “I Want to thank the hackers for informing the whole world about what I legally take a drug that prescribed in accordance with the diagnosis, and for which WADA has made an exception for me. Thank you, guys.”
However, in the hospital she was hardly in connection with their underlying illness, which she was allowed to take hydrocortisone and amphetamine: in PostScript to the photo of Helena said that she underwent successful surgery on the thumb of his right hand.
Use of amphetamine with the permission of WADA has also scored award-winning gymnast Simone Bails. But its public review only applies to the admission of methylphenidate (aka ritalin, a psychostimulant). Athlete wrote that a child is suffering from attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and has always taken this drug. Balls added that she has always advocated the “pure sport” and observed the rules. Ritalin really used to correct ADHD in the United States, several countries of the European Union and Latin America. However, in Russia and several other countries this drug is banned, as it refers to the list of narcotic (in the media it is often called the “children’s cocaine”).
However, Americans were deeply offended by the publication of the WADA. In their interpretation it is important that the use of the strongest substances has official permission.
“It is unthinkable in the Olympic movement to hackers illegally obtained confidential medical information, trying to vilify athletes that they looked like they did something wrong,” — said the head of the anti-Doping Agency Travis Tygart. According to him, the hackers have made the cyber attack on clean sport and the rights of athletes”, so that the whole world should condemn it.
The IOC in the same position: it’s not doping, and allowed medicines to sick athletes. As stated by the press service of the Committee on the request of the Agency “R-Sport”, the American athletes “did not violate anti-doping rules at the Olympic Games in 2016”.
According to The Telegraph, informed in the international sports community raised a wide discussion on the use of medical benefits in the sport. The leak and publication of data, apparently designed to re-ignite the debate, says the publication.
As for the main culprits of the scandal — WADA, the Agency did not even conduct a thorough investigation in order to accuse of cyber attack Russia. “WADA has informed law enforcement authorities that these attacks originate from Russia”, — reads the statement of the Agency. According to this organization, to cracking can be involved are the same people who last month hacked into the account Russians Yulia Stepanova.
The Kremlin has already issued a denial of this accusation. As stated by the press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov, the Russian involvement in the hacker attack completely eliminated.
Materials obtained by hackers, were greatly puzzled by the Russian community. The main question formulated by the official representative of the foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova on his page in Facebook: “I would Like to know the diagnosis. Maybe you’ll find that the Tarpischev apologized for nothing?”. We will remind, the President of the Russian tennis Federation Shamil Tarpischev publicly “joked” about the tennis players the Williams sisters — he called them “brothers” because of their powerful physical form. In his statement, he was suspended for a year from any activity in the Women’s tennis Association (WTA) and fined $25 thousand. Later, he brought a written apology to the Williams sisters for a bad joke.
Returning to the reactions of the Russian community on the recent developments, we can generalize — all wondering: what diseases are treated Olympic Champions such powerful drugs, which in usual practice is prescribed terminally ill, that is a dying people? Another question: even if there is such a disease, why athletes take drugs, then science has invented, in some cases, the same drugs are not narcotic effects?
Experts and politicians agree that the format of the WADA time to change, organizations need to establish strict regulations, that such decisions were not taken unilaterally.
