One of Russia's boxing medallists from the Rio Olympics may have his achievement tarnished by documents published by the Russian online hacking group, 'Fancy Bears'.
The group have in recent days been publishing information from individual athletes' medical records on their website. They claim they have managed to procure the confidential data from the World Anti-Doping Agency's 'Anti-Doping Administration and Management System (ADAMS)' database. Most of the information released by 'Fancy Bears' that has been hitting the headlines in recent times - involving athletes like Venus and Serena Williams, Simone Biles, Bradley Wiggins and Christopher Froome - is in relation to 'Therapeutic Use Exemptions', which are granted legitimately by WADA to athletes with medical conditions, the treatment of which requires the use of a substance on the banned list.
But the information on the Russian boxer Misha Aloyan, who won the silver medal in the 52 kg weight class competition in Rio, displays an 'adverse analytical finding' published by the group that dates from 21st August - the date that Aloyan won his medal.
The substance he tested positive for is Tuaminoheptane, which is a naval decongestant, but one that is still banned as a stimulant on the WADA banned list.
There have been some who have been attributing the actions of 'Fancy Bears' to a possible revenge mission from Russia after it was banned from the Paralympic Games and some of its athletes refused the chance to compete in the Olympics due to WADA findings of state-sponsored doping in the country. But Russia have distanced themselves from the group, Vladimir Putin's spokesman saying that "it can be stated with all certainty that there is no involvement of the official Moscow (Russian) government or special services in such actions."
After the information was published, Irish Olympian Paddy Barnes called for Aloyan to be stripped of his medal, in response to speculation from Kevin Byrne of the 'Irish Sun'.
should be taken off him regardless of the drug, if it's illegal then it's against the rules therefore bye bye silver medal!
— Paddy Barnes OLY (@paddyb_ireland) September 15, 2016
The legitimacy of the group - and of the information that they have published - is yet to be verified.
On their website, the group declare the following:
Greetings citizens of the world. We are Fancy Bears' hack team.
We go on exposing the athletes who violate the principles of fair play by taking doping substances.
The list of doping addicts includes not only the athletes of the top Olympic teams but also those who compete for other countries.
We'll keep on telling the world about doping in elite sports. Stay tuned for new leaks.
