Yuliya Stepanova
Rusanova at the 2012 World Indoor Championships in Istanbul
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born |
3 July 1986 (age 31) Russia |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Athletics |
| Event(s) | 800–1500 m |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Personal best(s) | 800 m – 1:56.99 (2011) 1000 m – 2:39.81 (2009) 1500 m – 4:06.08 (2009) |
Yuliya Igorevna Stepanova, née Rusanova (Russian: Юлия Игоревна Степанова (Русанова); born 3 July 1986) is a Russian runner who specializes in the 800 metres track event. She and her husband accused the Russia sports system of widespread doping fraud.
Stepanova, then known as Rusanova, started having testosterone injections at the suggestion of her coach, Vladimir Mokhnev, and later took anabolic steroids. She said in a 2016 interview, "I knew it was banned but I think my coach prepared me well because he was telling me stories about how it's normal, that's what all athletes do." On 26 February 2013, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) announced that Rusanova had been banned for two years following abnormalities in her biological passport. All of her results from 3 March 2011 were forfeited.
Stepanova and her husband Vitaliy Stepanov, a former employee of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency, wrote letters to the World Anti-Doping Agency describing doping in Russia but received little response. Deciding she needed more evidence, she began secretly recording conversations with coaches, athletes, and a doctor. In 2014, the couple appeared in a documentary by Hajo Seppelt for the German TV network Das Erste, accusing the Russian sports system of large-scale doping fraud. Both said that Russian athletics officials supplied banned substances in exchange for 5% of an athlete's earnings and falsified tests together with doping control officers. A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin called Stepanova a "Judas". The Russian media have attacked her character and her mother received criticism at work for raising an "unpatriotic" daughter.
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