Yuliya Stepanova – Russian Athlete

Well known as Rusanova, Yuliya Stepanova specialized in the 800-meter track event. In 2013, Rusanova was banned by the International Association of Athletics Federations after abnormalities were found in her biological passport. In fact, her results from racing in 2011 were forfeited.

She began having testosterone injections after her coach, Vladimir Mokhnev suggested that it would help her performance and that it was normal thing that all athletes did. Both her and her husband, Vitaliy Stepanov, a previous employee of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency, wrote many letters to the World Anti-Doping Agency that told about the situation in Russia but were ignored. In a 2016 interview, Stepanova stated that she knew the substance, anabolic steroids, was banned but she was brainwashed by her coach that it was the right thing to do.

Stepanova was the one to uncover the systematic state-sponsored doping happening in Russia. After Stepanova and her husband handed over evidence they fear for their lives and now live in secret. In 2016, Stepanova was named by BBC as one of the most influential and inspirational women in the world. She stated that she no longer wanted to belong to a system that was corrupt and ended up revealing the truth.

The feminine name Yuliya is the Ukrainian, Bulgarian, and Russian version of Julia, which is the female form of the Roman family name Julius. The masculine name Julius is most likely derived from the Greek word ioulos that means “downy-bearded”; or even related to the Roman god Jupiter’s name. There are many people with the name, from Yuliya Antipova a Soviet luger to Yuliya Blahinya the Ukrainian wrestler.