Rio Olympics 2016: Russian whistleblower Yuliya Stepanova fears for life after hack

Yuliya Stepanova competed in this year’s European Championships in Amsterdam but was banned by the IOC from the Rio Games

RUSSIAN whistleblower Yuliya Stepanova says she fears for her life after the account containing details of her location was hacked.

Stepanova, 30, is in hiding with her family after helping to expose Russian state-sponsored doping.

On Saturday the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) said the 800m runner’s account had been accessed illegally.

“If something happens to us then you should know that it is not an accident,” Stepanova said.

Wada’s Anti-Doping Administration & Management System (ADAMS) allows athletes to enter information about their whereabouts from anywhere in the world to help the agency co-ordinate testing.

Stepanova and husband Vitaly, a former Russian anti-doping official, are living in a secret location after she provided evidence for Wada’s report into Russian doping.

That led to Russia’s athletics team being banned from Rio 2016 Olympics.

Stepanova, who served a two-year ban for blood passport abnormalities in 2013, said she has moved her family, including her young son, to another location after the account was hacked.

“The only reason somebody would hack an ADAMS account is to find out your exact location,” Stepanova told journalists on a conference call. “We decided it was safer to relocate.”

She also told a CBC journalist: “We have made plans with certain people that if something should happen to us they take care of our son.” BBC

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