Athletes' medical records hacked by Russia's Fancy Bear
The track and field governing body the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has confirmed its system was compromised in February by Fancy Bear, the same group that stole records from global anti-doping regulators last year. The IAAF said the hackers had been able to access athletes’ private medical records, while IAAF president Sebastian Coe expressed "our sincerest apologies and our total commitment to continue to do everything in our power to remedy the situation". The hackers and Russian officials claimed western athletes have been given an unfair advantage through therapeutic-use exemptions.

Track and field’s global governing body — the sports organization that has most forcefully disciplined Russia for state-sponsored doping — said on Monday that its computer network had been compromised by the same Russian cyberespionage group that American intelligence officials have tied to a broad effort to influence the United States presidential election. The hackers were able to gain access to athletes’ private medical records, the track and field body said.

The International Association of Athletics Federations, the sport’s ruling body, said it had discovered the attacks on Feb. 21. It attributed them to Fancy Bear, a group that stole records from global antidoping regulators last year, after the regulator recommended that Russia be barred from the 2016 Summer Olympics. Intelligence officials and forensics experts have linked Fancy Bear to Russia’s military intelligence agency.

The I.A.A.F said on Monday that it had consulted with the authorities in Britain and Monaco, where the organization has its headquarters, and secured its network in recent days.

“Our first priority is to the athletes who have provided the I.A.A.F. with information that they believed would be secure and confidential,” Sebastian Coe, the I.A.A.F. president, said in a statement, noting that all athletes who had filed medical records since 2012 had been informed. “They have our sincerest apologies and our total commitment to continue to do everything in our power to remedy the situation.”