Tri-Service
Exclusive: Olympic Champion Speaks Out Over Hacking Scandal
Olympic champion rower Pete Reed has spoken exclusively to Forces TV about the publication of his medical records by Russian hackers the 'Fancy Bears'.
Speaking publicly about the issue for the first time the Royal Navy Lieutenant, a three-time Olympic gold medallist in the men's coxless four and men's eight, said:
"I'm a clean athlete. I have always been and I always will be and I'm very proud of that."
"Doping is a word that all through my early career I just wouldn't even say because I just didn't want to have my name associated with that in any way.
"I'm angry; especially with WADA [the World Anti-Doping Agency]. I think they should have done more to protect our medical records."
"They did contact us and say 'this has happened, sorry, we'll protect your records more.' [But] I think they should have been much more active in protecting the credibility of their clean athletes."
The leaked files reveal Lieutenant Reed was granted a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) for the use of prednisolone, a corticosteroid that works by modifying the body's immune response to various conditions and decreasing inflammation.
Lieutenant Reed with his three Olympic golds
The files, stolen from the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) database, focus on the granting of TUEs.
TUEs allow banned substances to be taken by athletes to treat verified medical conditions such as asthma.
Fancy Bears, thought to be acting in retaliation for the banning of Russian athletes from international competition, say the system is a "licence for doping" and have strongly criticised WADA for being "corrupt and deceitful".
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