SUMMARY
- Serena Williams, Venus, and Simone Biles are all decorated athletes who were the target of a group of hacker.
- The hackers leaked their medical reports, and they alleged the women doped.
Hacking is one of the most unethical practices in the world. This malpractice is frowned upon but was used as a weapon against champion athletes like Serena Williams, Venus Williams, and Simone Biles in the past. The incident shed light on a lot of issues, the chief of which was the breach of privacy.
The Williams sisters were the most influential players at the time, with their impact transcending the boundaries of the sport. Serena Williams retired with 23 major titles to her name, while Venus won seven.
Biles, on the other hand, is the most decorated American gymnast of all time. She won the gold medal four times at the Rio Olympics in 2016 alone. But why did a group of hackers target these women?
The group identified themselves as the “Fancy Bears” and were based in Russia. They hacked into the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) database and leaked the medical reports of the star athletes.
The group had access to records of players using Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUEs). TUEs allow athletes to consume certain banned substances for medical purposes. Fancy Bears claimed that it served as a license for doping.
The group alleged that Biles was using an “illicit psychostimulant.” Simone rubbished these claims immediately. She had obtained permission from WADA to take a prescription medicine for her ADHD.
— Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) September 13, 2016
Following the incident, WADA condemned the attack. “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,” said Wada director-general Olivier Niggli (via BBC).
They countered that this was a concerted effort to undermine the anti-doping system. Many believed that the attack was the result of the Russian track team being banned over an alleged state-backed doping system. Unfortunately, the Russian embassy made fresh allegations against Serena Williams for doping, bringing up this case once again.
The Russian embassy attacked Serena Williams and others
At the time, the hacking incident raised a lot of uncomfortable questions. However, the cloud settled down eventually, until now. The Russian embassy in South Africa has made a fresh allegation against Williams and Biles.
They dredged up the old doping case as they made comparisons between Williams, Biles, and the now-banned Kamila Valieva. Kamila has been recently handed a four-year ban for violating an anti-doping rule.
The embassy took to social media to take a dig at Williams and Biles. They compared Valieva’s lanky physique to that of Serena and Simone’s, insinuating that the Americans doped. The embassy faced a strong backlash and deleted the tweet, but clarified later on.
In 2016, WADA documents were leaked on the Internet, revealing that both Serena Williams and Simone Biles used doping – under the so-called “Therapeutic Use Exemptions” (TUEs). The antidoping agency confirmed the authenticity of the documents.
According to the media, Serena… pic.twitter.com/MbLvRwZDRV
— Russian Embassy in South Africa 🇷🇺 (@EmbassyofRussia) February 1, 2024
This incident has once again emphasized the importance of following the anti-doping rules. Many have suffered the consequences of flouting them. Kamila is just the latest victim, while Serena Williams has been caught in the crossfire.