Simone Biles reveals ADHD after hackers leak her medical records
Gymnast Simone Biles, the 19-year-old Olympic gold medalist, announced on Twitter that she has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and has tested positive for a banned substance.
— Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) September 13, 2016
Her revelation came as Russian hackers published her medical record as part of a leak of top U.S. athlete’s files Tuesday. The Russian cyberespionage group known as Fancy Bear published Biles’ confidential information from the World Anti-Doping Agency database, along with that of tennis players Serena and Venus Williams.
USA Gymnastics said in the statement that Biles had taken the necessary steps to qualify for an exemption in testing for a banned substance.
“Simone has filed the proper paperwork per USADA and WADA requirements, and there is no violation,” Steve Penny, president of USA Gymnastics, said in a statement. “The International Gymnastics Federation, the United States Olympic Committee and USADA have confirmed this. Simone and everyone at USA Gymnastics believe in the importance of a level playing field for all athletes.”
The International Olympic Committee said it “strongly condemns such methods which clearly aim at tarnishing the reputation of clean athletes.”
Biles won four golds and one bronze last month in Rio de Janiero.
The hack comes following the ban of many Russian athletes from the Rio Olympic Games and the entire team from the Paralympics, which are underway in Brazil. That disciplinary action came in response to a government-sponsored doping scandal. The hackers said the records released Tuesday were “just the tip of the iceberg,” and they would be releasing additional information in coming days because “the world is unaware of the large number of American doping athletes.”
The doping agency is believed to have been hacked using spear phishing, or sending fraudulent emails to gain access to secure systems.
“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,” Olivier Niggli, the doping organization’s director general, said Tuesday.
This story was originally published September 13, 2016 at 6:43 PM with the headline "Simone Biles reveals ADHD after hackers leak her medical records."