Recently, Russian hackers managed to release WADA drug testing reports of a range of different Olympic athletes, including tennis legend Serena Williams and adored US gymnast / pocket rocket Simone Biles.
The hacker group, which goes by the name of ‘Fancy Bear’, revealed records that fell under the title of ‘Therapeutic Use Exemption’.
From this, it was found that Biles had tested positively for methylphenidate – which most would know as the ADHD drug Ritalin.
Since, the young gymnast has been the target of some horrendous online abuse, with people accusing her of cheating and trying to up her performance. (Might we add; anyone making these accusations has a serious lack of understanding of how ADHD medication actually works.)
But the athlete has taken it all in her stride and shown maturity far beyond her years.
She posted a response to her Twitter account, explaining that she’s had ADHD her whole life, and that taking medication for an illness is normal, acceptable, and has nothing to do with doping in sport.
— Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) September 13, 2016
The 19-year-old is gutsy as all hell, and made sure to follow up her important message with this strong, powerful tweet:
Having ADHD, and taking medicine for it is nothing to be ashamed of nothing that I’m afraid to let people know.
— Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) September 13, 2016
The US Gymnastics official Twitter account also released this statement, confirming that Biles had always cleared her ADHD medication with all the correct authorities:
USA Gymnastics statement regarding Simone Biles and WADA hack: pic.twitter.com/YTq2iVS7Vu
— USA Gymnastics (@USAGym) September 13, 2016
Seriously though, just to clarify:
Don’t shame people for taking medication that’s necessary to their health and happiness Source: Twitter / @SimoneBiles.
Photo: Adam Livesey / Getty.
