Hackers release Mo Farah’s medical and drug use files
Hackers group known as "Fancy Bears" released the medical files of four-time Olympic champion Mo Farah. The drugs used were pre-approved.
Four-time Olympic champion Mo Farah is among the latest names who had their medical documents hacked and released to the public. Hackers group, who call themselves “Fancy Bears,” released Farah’s information after the group phished information from the World Anti-Doping Agency.
Fancy Bears release latest medical information leak and Mo Farah is among the athletes.
— Chris Chavez (@ChrisChavezSI) September 19, 2016
The information revealed includes therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs), which allows athletes to take banned substances with prior permission. The use of TUEs is legal. In Farah’s case, TUEs were submitted for triamcinolone in 2008 as well as an intravenous infusion, morphine sulphate and vicodin, the latter three in July 2014.
RELATED: British network’s #AskFarah Twitter campaign backfires with accusations.
Farah took the July 2014 substances after he collapsed on a training run in Utah. He admitted to their use amid the group he trains with, the Nike Oregon Project, being investigated for a possible connection to drug use in 2015. The investigation focused on the group’s head coach, Alberto Salazar.
According to the World Anti-Doping Agency, “If the medication an athlete is required to take to treat an illness or condition happens to fall under the Prohibited List, a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) may give that athlete the authorization to take the needed medicine.”
The 33-year-old acknowledged that his information was expected to be released and his spokesperson said that Farah “was not worried.”
Another runner, Olympic silver medallist in the women’s 800m Francine Niyonsaba, was found to have submitted a TUE for livial, a steroid used for hormone replacement therapy.
The leak also includes medical information from four Canadian soccer players including star Christine Sinclair. Tennis player Rafael Nadal was included in the lengthy list of medical files released, the fourth such Fancy Bears release.
Check out the latest buyer's guide:
