Simone Biles responds to Russian hack by getting candid about her ADHD

Simone Biles.
(Image credit: ulian Finney/Getty Images)

American gymnast Simone Biles wasted no time clearing the air after Russian hackers leaked personal information about her from the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) database, which contained drug test results and medical information from athletes who competed in this year's Rio Olympics. The four-time Olympic gold medalist, who was named among U.S. athletes given a medical exemption to use a medication, confirmed Tuesday that she did indeed use a drug — and that it was "nothing to be ashamed of."

In a series of tweets, Biles opened up about the fact that she has taken medicine for ADHD since she was a child, and that was the medication in question. She also insisted that using the medication did not give her any sort of "unfair advantage":

Biles won a bronze medal in addition to her four gold medals at the Rio Games this summer. The hack, believed to be carried out by a Russian hacking group called "Fancy Bear," also targeted American tennis players Serena and Venus Williams.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More