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Olympic athletes (legally) use banned drugs

So-called Therapeutic Use Exemptions are on the rise, posing an interesting question: Is allowing athletes to use banned drugs for medical reasons simply levelling the playing field, or creating unfair advantages?

The TUE program had been operating quietly for the most part until a group of Russian hackers calling itself Fancy Bears last month began releasing reams of medical files stolen from a World Anti-Doping Agency database. For example, American gymnastics star Simone Biles, who won four gold medals and a bronze at the Rio Olympics, was permitted to take drugs to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). "This is just another desperate attempt to distract from the real issue of state-sponsored doping and to smear the reputations of athletes and organizations from around the world who choose to operate with integrity and abide by the rules" said Travis Tygert, the CEO of the United States Anti-Doping Agency.

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