USADA Chief: Fancy Bear Hacks a Malicious 'Smear Campaign'

(ATR) United States Anti-Doping Agency chief Travis Tygart says the Fancy Bear hackers are nothing but "con artists" who are desperately trying to distract the public from the issue of Russian doping.

"We are confident that people will see this for what it is: a malicious and illegal invasion of athlete privacy followed by a baseless smear campaign," Tygart told the BBC.

Tygart’s comments are in response to the latest leaks by hackers containing emails and documents from USADA detailing the use of prohibited substances by American athletes as allowed through the Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE).

Fancy Bears have previously released six batches of private information regarding TUE use by several athletes who competed at the Rio 2016 Olympics including Venus and Serena Williams, Simone Biles, Bradley Wiggins, Rafael Nadal, Mo Farah and Emily Seebohm.

Prior to the USADA leaks Thursday, the World Anti-Doping Agency believed the hackers only had access to information contained in the Rio 2016 Anti-Doping Administration and Management System which included TUEs.

However, the latest leaks show that the hackers potentially have access to information outside of the ADAMS system used for the Rio Games.

"[These leaks] smear the reputations of athletes and organizations from around the world who choose to operate with integrity and abide by the rules," Tygart said.

The hacks are speculated to be in response to the doping bans placed on Russian athletes at Rio, including the barring of the country’s entire athletics and Paralympic teams. Russia has denied being responsible for the hacks. Tygart says the hacks amount to nothing more than a diversion technique.

"This is just another desperate attempt to distract from the real issue of (Russia's) state-sponsored doping."

Written by Kevin Nutley

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