UPDATE: Polish anti-doping agency dismisses leak of athletes including Katarzyna Niewiadoma as 'broadly understood disinformation'

The Polish sports world has been turned on it's head today. Right after the Olympic Games, a massive hacking attack has been launched at the Polish Anti-Doping agency (POLADA) exposing many of the country's top athletes. Katarzyna Niewiadoma is among them, but the Polish cyclist in fact only tested positive for Marijuana out of competition.

It is perhaps one of the most unusual cases you could expect to find. The leak involves world-class athletes such as football star Robert Lewandowski who tested positive for anabolic steroids in 2022, Tennis player Iga Swiatek who tested positive for EPO in 2021. Many more are involved and when Canyon//SRAM Racing rider Katazyna Niewiadoma's name showed up the worst was feared in a sport where doping is still seen as normal for a lot of the population.

Interestingly though Niewiadoma's reveal is of testing positive for Marijuana, in an out-of-competition test. This is not allowed in competition but there is currently no ban or limitation on it's use out of competition. The test is dated back to 16 of May 2023, only two days after she finished on the podium of Ituzlia Women.

The 29-year old, former winner of races such as Amstel Gold Race, Flèche Wallone and the Trofeo Alfredo Binda is one of the world's best climbers and currently she is racing the Tour de France Femmes with ambitions of a strong overall result. This situation should not leave to any suspension but the same cannot be said over some of her compatriots.

The Polish doping leak has since been taken down from social media and it is suspected that an 'enemy state' may have been behind the leaking of false data so as to incriminate athletes. Polish news outlet Przegląd Sportowy reported that this is the fault of "a group supported by the services of an enemy state". POLADA reacted, writing in a message this Wednesday: 

"In connection with the hacker attack, we would like to inform you that the data is used by cybercriminals for various purposes, including broadly understood disinformation. Fake news discrediting Polish athletes appeared in the public space. None of the mentioned athletes obtained a positive result and none of the dates presented correspond to anti-doping controls".

CyclingUpToDate corrects the information released this morning, as the source's reliability is being heavily questioned.