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A Russian Hacker Gang Called The Fancy Bears Has Leaked The Medical Data of Two Kiwi Olympians

Two Kiwi gold medalists are amongst 127 athletes hit by the Fancy Bears over the last three weeks.

Photo: Youtube.

Two gold medal-winning Kiwi Olympians have had their medical data leaked online by a Russian hacking gang known as the 'Fancy Bears.'

Mahe Drysdale, who won gold in single sculls rowing in 2012 and 2016, and sailor Peter Burling, who recently won gold in the men's 49 class in Rio with Blair Tuke, have both had their details released into the public.

They are the first Kiwis hit by a sting by the Fancy Bears that has affected 127 athletes around the world over the last three weeks.

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The medical data – understood to come from the WADA database - focuses on the athletes' therapeutic use exemption (TUE) forms, which sportspeople can apply for if using particular drugs not related to their sporting activity.

Drysdale was granted four TUE exemptions last year, for suppositories drugs leading up to a surgery, while Burling applied for one for a drug required for a wisdom tooth extraction.

All in all, pretty small fry stuff – and it doesn't seem like either Olympian is too worry about it.

"[I] haven't really been woken up to being outed by a Russian hacker before, but honestly it doesn't worry me at all," Burling told Newstalk ZB, who informed the Olympian of the data leak.

"I've got nothing to hide. Yea, I had a TUE, a while back when I got my wisdom teeth out – and they're the only thing I can think of that would be anything at all interesting."

Olympian triathlon legend Alistair Brownlee was another affected by the Fancy Bears leak, with his TUE being before an altitude sickness drug after he climbed Mount Kilamanjaro in 2013.

Even though the leaked details themselves aren't shaking the sports world up, the biggest concern is clearly WADA's shaky digital security which will need work following the last three weeks.