Times are hard for athletes living in Russia and hoping for a clean career. Ask Yuliya Stepanova.
In 2014, Stepanova – a middle distance runner – fled Russia and blew the whistle on its mass state-sponsored doping practice. What followed led to a worldwide campaign to ban Russia’s athletes from the Olympics this year. Led by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), anti-doping officials from more than 11 countries pleaded with the International Olympics Committee to inflict a blanket ban on the Russian contingent, on the grounds of more than enough evidence that suggested that the Russian government has had a sanctioned doping practice in place since the Sochi Winter Olympic games of 2012.
Russia’s track and field team was subsequently banned from participating in the Rio Olympics, but other athletes have been allowed to participate. Amidst all this, Stepanova who removed the curtains on the performance-enhancing drug ritual followed in Russia, was hiding first in Europe and then in the U.S.A. Stepanova had hoped to make it to Rio as a neutral athlete, but because she has already served a doping ban between 2013 and 2015, she could not be allowed to participate this time.
She and her husband Vital (they also have a young son) had however been invited as special guests to the Rio Olympics. However, a public appearance could compromise their safety and they have remained at an undisclosed location in North America.
However, yesterday Stepanova’s official WADA account was hacked. Her records have been illegally accessed and the overwhelming consensus as to the perpetrator points to Russia.
Athletes are required to enter their location details in their WADA accounts along with a fixed time in which they can be tested for doping each day in out-of-competition routine tests. The hack would make Stepanova’s location known and would put her and her family in great danger once again.
Unconfirmed sources have also revealed to USA Today that her email account has been intruded upon in a bid to know where she is.
A 30-year-old 800 meters runner, Stepanova has been on the receiving end of her country’s censure since she blew the whistle. Along with her husband, she collected and presented photographs, audio and video recordings, all of which substantiate her claims that Russia has an inner racket of government-aided advocation of sportspersons taking performance enhancing drugs. Her husband and she submitted footage of being handed pills to be consumed and drew attention to the fact that the anti-doping authorities usually caught unknown athletes for positive doping tests while fudging records of medal hopefuls.
Shortly after Stepanova’s statements, Dr Grigory Rodchenkov spoke to The New York Times about acting under the Russian government’s orders to medically cloak evidences of doping in athletes during the Winter Olympics at Sochi.
Lauded by the IOC and the track and field body IAAF for her “truly exceptional contribution to the protection and promotion of clean athletes, fair play and the integrity and authenticity of the sport,” Stepanova was called “Judas” by the Russian president Vladimir Putin.
The focused nature of the hack represents an apparent effort by a third party to figure out where Stepanova is.
WADA’s statement, saying, “A subsequent investigation by WADA allowed the Agency to determine that no other athlete accounts on ADAMS have been accessed” reveals that only Stepanova’s account was targetted. WADA has locked her account immediately after the discovery.
At Rio, Russian athletes like swimmer Yulia Efimova have been on the receiving end of unforgiving censure following their return in the wake of the doping scandal. Two silver breaststroke medals has not kept Efimova protected from fellow swimmers like Lilly King who were vocal about their lack of enthusiasm in competing with a ‘tainted’ athlete. Efimova has been caught twice for doping and served bans. She has compared her situation to that of Michael Phelps.
