MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin says the hack of Olympic athletes' data has cast a spotlight on a "hypocritical" decision to bar Russian athletes from the Rio Paralympics.
Putin spoke Monday (Tuesday, Manila time) as the hackers' group known as Fancy Bears, which the World Anti-Doping Agency said was linked to Russia, unloaded another package of Olympic athletes' data. The athletes had permission from sports or anti-doping bodies to use medications that would otherwise be banned.
Putin says that while "we don't approve of the hackers' action, it has helped reveal that people, who took part in the Olympics and looked absolutely healthy, had taken banned medicines giving them an edge in competition."
In contrast, he adds, Russian Paralympic athletes were banned from the Rio Games on a suspicion, a decision he slammed as "dishonest, hypocritical and cowardly."
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