If Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUEs) are some massive loophole through which athletes are allowed to take banned drugs, then Russian hackers have not exposed that yet. The latest release includes Galen Rupp and Shalane Flanagan, and it's exactly as futile as the earlier ones. Rupp's paperwork is for an exemption for asthma medication that expired in 2009, and Flanagan's is for an IV drip after she collapsed of dehydration after the Olympic Trials marathon.
That makes it exactly like the other releases in which Fancy Bears claimed that gymnast Simone Biles was a cheater for taking ADHD meds and put out nothingburger exemptions for track and field gold medalists Michelle Carter and Mo Farah.
We already know there was widespread, state-sponsored doping in Russia. If there is widespread drug cheating everywhere else, it's not through the TUE system.
Rupp's coach Alberto Salazar has said Galen has had 2 TUEs since '10 (prednisone in July '11 and Feb '12) https://t.co/x2AUvI4hbz https://t.co/GUnev3hqwV
— Sara Germano (@germanotes) September 23, 2016
Which, assuming Salazar's open letter is correct, raises possibility that Fancy Bear hackers aren't leaking comprehensive records.
— Sara Germano (@germanotes) September 23, 2016
That makes it exactly like the other releases in which Fancy Bears claimed that gymnast Simone Biles was a cheater for taking ADHD meds and put out nothingburger exemptions for track and field gold medalists Michelle Carter and Mo Farah.
We already know there was widespread, state-sponsored doping in Russia. If there is widespread drug cheating everywhere else, it's not through the TUE system.