Wednesday 14 September 2016

Williams & Biles Gaining Fortuitous Sporting Advantage?

Of course it goes without saying that the Russian cyber espionage group which hacked the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) database should not be condoned and blah blah and all that but while everyone is focusing on the releasing of private information, nobody seems to be actually looking at what the information is.
Among the sports stars whose details were posted online were tennis players Serena and Venus Williams and gymnast Simone Biles who recently hopped off from Rio with Olympic Gold medals in each of their sports bag.
The leaked records show that each of the three woman had taken drugs on the WADA prohibited list under medical grounds with WADA rushing out a release that they had done nothing wrong and believed in: 'the importance of a level playing field for all athletes'.
The leaked documents show that Serena Williams was granted permission to use drugs commonly used to treat muscle injuries while Biles took a treatment for her ADHD.
The hack is obviously an act of retaliation for Wada's report into Russian state-sponsored doping and while there is no suggestion the Williams sisters and Simone Biles did anything illegal while taking treatment for their various ailments, by taking the drugs did they obtain an advantage over other athletes as a side effect?  
If Simone Biles took ADHD drugs designed to retain mental focus and calm nerves, how could she not gain an advantage over someone who has only their own mind to achieve the same effect?
If Venus and Serena are taking chemicals to treat muscle injuries, how could they not gain an advantage over other tennis players who rely on their own bodies healing any muscle injuries? 
The fact that all three, especially Serena and Biles, are top of their sporting fields should raise some uneasy questions over whether they have a fortuitous advantage from the drugs they are legally allowed to take therefore making WADA's level playing field a bit more sloped.

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