World Triathlon

The International Testing Agency (ITA) successfully prosecutes Triathlete Yulia Yelistratova (Ukraine) before the Anti-Doping Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS ADD), which has ruled that she has committed an Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV) for presence of EPO and has sanctioned the athlete with 5 years of ineligibility and disqualification of all results.

As previously reported by the ITA, the matter concerns an in-competition sample collected by World Triathlon from Yulia Yelistratova on 5 June 2021 in the scope of the 2021 Europe Triathlon Cup in Dnipro, Ukraine and out-of-competition samples collected by the ITA on 23 July 2021 under the Testing Authority of the International Olympic Committee in Tokyo, Japan. The analysis of the samples returned Adverse Analytical Findings for recombinant erythropoietin (EPO, S2. Peptide, Hormones, Growth Factors, related substances, and mimetics). The athlete had been provisionally suspended by the ITA ahead of her competition in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games that took place in July 2021. 

Following the Results Management process, the ITA submitted the matter for adjudication to CAS ADD. A hearing took place before CAS ADD on 23 January 2023 at which the ITA represented World Triathlon.

After hearing the parties and considering the written submissions and evidence, CAS ADD found that the athlete had committed an ADRV under Art. 2.1 of the World Triathlon Anti-Doping Rules for the Presence of EPO in her samples. CAS ADD also concluded that aggravating circumstances had been established in this case and hence the period of ineligibility imposed was 5 years, starting from 25 July 2021 until 24 July 2026 and disqualification of all competitive results from 5 June 2021 onwards.

No parties have appealed the decision; the CAS ADD decision is final and binding. No further comments will be made on this case.