Russians leak health information for Serena Williams and other high-profile athletes

A group of Russian hackers released information from the World Anti-Doping Agency’s athlete database, including some very big names.

This week, Fancy Bear, a group of Russian Hackers, compromised the World Anti-Doping Agency’s athlete database and released information about Venus Williams, Serena Williams and Simone Biles.

The tennis stars and gold medal gymnast have not violated anti-doping rules, but hackers published information indicating that all three had received approval to take substances that are normally banned.

Olivier Niggli, the director general of WADA, expressed dismay in the wake of the breach, saying, via the New York Times, “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.”

Travis T. Tygert, president of the United States Anti-Doping Agency clarified that Serena and Venus Williams and Simone Biles were in compliance with global anti-doping rules. He said, “In each of the situations, the athlete has done everything right in adhering to the global rules for obtaining permission to use a needed medication.”

Simone Biles also felt compelled to respond to the recently released information:

Russia was under intense scrutiny this summer after the McLaren report revealed that the country had a state-sponsored doping program and cheating scheme dating back to the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi. As a result, over 100 Russian athletes were banned from the 2016 Summer Games in Rio.

Fancy Bear indicated that they intend to release the medical information of even more U.S. athletes in an attempt to discredit a country that prides itself on clean sport.