Denmark Defends Pernille Blume & Jeanette Ottesen After Leak Of Medical Records

Pernille Blume, the Olympic 50m freestyle champion, has defended her reputation after the medical details of a legitimate Therapeutic Use Exemption for a banned substance contains din an asthma treatment was leaked by pro-Russian that hacked into the anti-doping database of the World Anti-Doping Agency.

The Danish Swimming Federation has come to the defence of Blume and Jeanette Ottesen, a former world champion and a medley relay medallist with Blume at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games last month after both were named in the ‘Fancy Bears’ leak of medical data from the ADAMS database.

Both Blume and Ottesen followed the correct procedure open to all athlete who suffer temporary or permanent medical conditions that require treatment that includes drugs from the banned substances list. In swimming, the vast bulk of such cases involve asthma treatments such as terbutaline.

Olympic 50m free champion Pernille Blume (DEN) – by Patrick B. Kraemer

Blume and Ottesen are among many athletes who have a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) certificate that allows them to take a specific dose of the drug as prescribed by a doctor after their medical eligibility for a TUE has been verified by an independent panel. Speaking through her federation, Blume, 22, said that she was concerned that her reputation had been damaged, noting:

“I think it is shocking that it has been possible for some people to hack into a system that full of very personal information. It should not be possible. There are, of course, many headlines being written about it right now. Some of them just mention my name and something about doping, and I know very well that what we typically remember from media coverage, is just the headlines and then the rest does not matter. Of course, I am both worried and upset by it. I distance myself from doping and I really do not hope that some people might be left in doubt about it.”

The medical records of swimmers from the USA, Denmark, Britain and Spain are among details of 29 athletes from eight countries to have been leaked so far in the Fancy Bears effort to taint the TUE system. Though such leaks have raised legitimate questions about the system designed to cope with legitimate medical needs of athletes, the Fancy Bears action is widely regarded as hostile and designed to divert attention away from the Russian doping  crisis and illegitimate use of banned substances.

Jeanette Ottesen of Denmark – by Patrick B. Kraemer

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