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Russian Couple Behind Doping Expose Reportedly Now Living In U.S. Suburb


Yulia Stepanova walks on the track as she was injured during the 800-meter race of the European Athletics Championships at the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam in July 2016.
Yulia Stepanova walks on the track as she was injured during the 800-meter race of the European Athletics Championships at the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam in July 2016.

The Russian couple that exposed the country's doping scandal is hiding out in a quiet American suburb, The New York Times reports.

Vitaly and Yulia Stepanov fled Russia for Germany in 2014 with their infant son days before the screening of a documentary in which they detailed Russia's state-sponsored doping program.

They have moved at least six times since then, ending up in an undisclosed U.S. suburb, the paper reported.

"We are just like any middle-class American family," Vitaly Stepanov told the newspaper in an interview.

Yulia Stepanova, a former top runner on Russia's national team, made secret recordings of coaches and athletes. Her work resulted in Russia's track-and-field team being banned from the 2016 Olympics.

Russian President Vladimir Putin called her "Judas," a name used to describe a traitor.

Yulia Stepanova is now training for the 2020 Olympics, though her husband said they didn't hold out much hope she will make it. Her time for the 800 meters was still four seconds slower than the standard for qualifying, he said.

Based on reporting by The New York Times

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