PARIS (AP) — Somewhere in Russia, computer hackers must be congratulating themselves on a well-executed con.
By stealing and then publishing the private medical files of more than 120 international athletes from a World Anti-Doping Agency database, the self-described "Fancy Bears hack team" has diverted attention from Russia's systemic abuse of banned performance-enhancing drugs in sport, the biggest doping scandal since East German officials fed powerful steroids to teenagers during the Cold War.
The hackers' tactic, used by tricksters everywhere, of waving one hand so people forget what the other is doing, has worked spectacularly. In July and August, sport was focused on how to punish Russia for a government-sanctioned program of doping and deception detailed by successive WADA probes.