There's no meaningful link between an athlete having a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) and winning an Olympic medal, a study unveiled by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) found.
US tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams and reigning Olympic and world all-around gymnastics champion Simone Biles are among athletes who have used TUEs, special permission to take otherwise banned substances for medical needs.
Their WADA medical data, including use of TUEs, was revealed publicly by a hacker in 2016.
The WADA study examined athletes with TUEs at the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Summer Olympics and the 2010 Vancouver, 2014 Sochi and 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics to see if athletes with TUEs won more medals than those without.
"The number of athletes competing with valid TUEs (in individual competition) at the selected Games was less than 1%," said WADA medical director Dr. Alan Vernec said.
"The analysis suggests there's no meaningful association between competing with a TUE and the likelihood of winning a medal.
"The results of this study provide objective data to dispel some of the misunderstandings and misgivings surrounding TUEs."
Serena Williams defended her use of TUEs in 2018, saying she regularly used them but "I am never, ever going to take an advantage over someone else. That is not who I am."
"It has overwhelming acceptance from athletes, physicians and anti-doping stakeholders and there is a stringent process in place to avoid abuse of the system."
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