The Fancy Bears leaks shouldn’t tar all athletes with the same doping brush | James Riach

The cyber hackers are trying to conflate athletes' therapeutic use drug exemptions with Russian state-sponsored doping. They do not amount to a 'licence to dope'

We live in an age when many Olympic and elite sporting feats are greeted with suspicion. Consciously or not, when something spectacular is achieved, there lingers scepticism. The seed of doubt has already been sown in the minds of many observers thanks to the misdemeanours of those that have gone before.

Incidents of doping become conflated. Some perceive that everyone must be cheating. Arguments are made in favour of doping deregulation: scrap rules regarding banned substances and permit a free-for-all, to ensure a level playing field across sport.