Ukrainian triathlete Yuliya Yelistratova has been banned from elite competition for five years following doping offences.
Yelistratova’s first offence came to light with an in-competition sample collected by World Triathlon at the European Cup in Dnipro, Ukraine on 5 June 2021. Yelistratova won the Dnipro race ahead of Solveig Løvseth and Sophia Green, with Bianca Seregni finishing off the podium in 4th place.
Yelistratova would then race at the 2021 Huatulco World Cup (where she finished 22nd) and won the Ukrainian Championships. However, prior to the Tokyo Olympic Games, out-of-competition samples collected by the International Testing Authority (ITA) on 23 July 2021 returned adverse findings.
Yelistratova was therefore suspended and did not race at the Tokyo Games.
As per World Triathlon, the analysis of the samples “returned Adverse Analytical Findings for recombinant erythropoietin (EPO, S2. Peptide, Hormones, Growth Factors, related substances, and mimetics)”.
A hearing took place before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on 23 January 2023. World Triathlon was represented at the hearing by the ITA and Yelistratova was found to have committed the doping offences. She was therefore sanctioned with a ban of five years, starting from 25 July 2021 (and lasting until 24 July 2026).
All of her competitive results from 5 June 2021 onwards have also been disqualified. None of the parties involved have appealed the decision.
Now in her mid-30s and a mother, it is unlikely that Yelistratova will make any return to elite triathlon. At the same time, there may be questions to answer regarding the exact nature of her doping history. She won three World Cups in her career (in Tiszaujvaros in 2010, in Alanya in 2015 and in Salinas in 2018) and won numerous European Cups.
In the absence of any positive tests, no one can say whether she doped prior to the summer of 2021. That being said, the two instances of adverse results in June and July cast a degree of doubt over her career.
Either way, after the exposure of Collin Chartier for doping in long distance triathlon, the Yelistratova case is a reminder of the need for vigilance in all corners of triathlon and sport more broadly.
