Sport Athletics Name Yuliya Rusanova | Event(s) 800–1500 m | |
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Born 3 July 1986 (age 38) ( 1986-07-03 ) Russia Personal best(s) 800 m – 1:56.99 (2011)
1000 m – 2:39.81 (2009)
1500 m – 4:06.08(2009) | ||
Yuliya Igorevna Rusanova (Yuliya Stepanova, Russian: YUliya Igorevna Rusanova; born 3 July 1986) is a Russian runner who specializes in the 800 metres.
On 26 February 2013 the IAAF announced that she had been banned for two years following abnormalities in her biological passport. All her results since 3 March 2011 were forfeited.
In 2014, she and her husband Vitaliy Stepanov, a former employee of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency RUSADA, 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 claimed that Russian athletics officials supplied banned substances in exchange for 5% of an athlete's earnings and falsified tests together with doping control officers.
In December 2014, Rusanova, together with her husband and eight-month-old son permanently moved from Russia to Germany. In November 2015, they applied for political asylum in Canada.
