Nadal, Farah defend medical records

Stars shrug if off after hacking group leaks private data

Rafael Nadal and British Olympic great Mo Farah said they have nothing to hide after their medical records were the latest to be leaked by a cyber-hacking group on Monday.

They are among more than 60 international athletes, including 17 from the British team at the Rio Olympics, who have had their medical files - mostly therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs) - published online by the so-called Fancy Bears, who have hacked into World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) records.

There is no suggestion that any of the named athletes - among them some of the biggest names in sport - have done anything wrong.

Spanish tennis ace Nadal and four-time Olympic champion distance runner Farah were shown to have used TUEs in the past to gain permission to take substances that figure on WADA's banned list.

TUEs can be issued to athletes who have an illness or condition that requires the use of normally prohibited medication.

"When you ask permission to take something for therapeutic reasons and they give it to you, you're not taking anything prohibited," Nadal, a 14-time Grand Slam winner, told Spanish media.

"It's not news, it's just inflammatory."

Nadal, who has twice been granted a TUE, said he had never taken anything to improve his performance but took what doctors advised him was the best medication to care for his troublesome knee.

Far from complaining about the leaking of his files - believed to be the work of Russian hackers - Nadal said he would support the publishing of all medical records.

"It would be much more beneficial for sportsmen and women, spectators and media that every time a drug test is taken the news is made public and two weeks later there are the results," he added.

"This would end the problem. Sport has to take a step forward and be totally transparent. I have been saying this for years."