Yuliya Oleksandrivna Yelistratova (; born 15 February 1988 in

Ovruch Ovruch (, ) is a city in Korosten Raion, Zhytomyr Oblast, northern Ukraine, first mentioned as Vruchiy in 977. It was the capital city of the Drevlians in the 900s, later conquered by the Mongols in the 13th century, then later part of the Grand D ...

Zhytomyr Oblast Zhytomyr Oblast (), also referred to as Zhytomyrshchyna (), is an Administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in northwestern Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Zhytomyr. Its population is approximately H ...

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, is a Ukrainian professional triathlete, European U23 champion of the year 2009, Number 1 in the ITU ranking (women's standing) of the year 2009 with by far the highest "total number of races" (6), several times national champion in various categories and member of the Ukrainian national team. She competed at the

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

and

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

. Yelistratova is currently serving a five-year ban set to expire in July 2026 for an anti-doping rule violation for testing positive for EPO in 2021.

Career

On 27 October 2004, Yelistratova took part in her first elite race and placed 9th at the European Cup in Alanya, so at the age of 15 at her ''Elite'' debut she effortlessly achieved a top-ten position among the world elite. Since then she has continuously won medals in numerous international events. She is also decorated with the title

Master of Sports Unified All-Russian Sports Classification () is a system which regulates the Russian physical education system requirements for both athletes and coaches. History In the Soviet period Unified Sports Classification System of the USSR () exist ...

(, International Class). In 2009 Yelistratova took part in four competitions of the prestigious ''Dextro Energy World Championship Series.'' In Tongyeong she placed 31st (Elite), in Kitzbühel 6th (Elite), in Yokohama 21st (Elite), and at the Grand Final in Southport (Gold Coast) 5th (U23). At the two World Cup triathlons in Mooloolaba and Tiszaújváros she placed 19th and 5th respectively (Elite), at the European Cup in Brno and the Premium Asia Cup in Beijing she won the gold medals and at the beginning of this season, on 20 June 2009, she won the European U23 Championships in Tarzo Revine. The two last races in 2009 again underlined Sapunova's dominating role: the U23 triathlete won the gold medal at the Elite Premium European Cup in Eilat and placed 5th at the Elite World Cup in Huatulco. Having won the gold medal in 2007 and the silver medals in 2006 and 2008, Sapunova was definitely among the prospective winners in the triathlon in Alanyabut but, like one third of the competitors, she did not finish the race, for reasons unknown. The National Ukrainian Championships of 2009 were won by

Inna Tsyganok Inna Tsyganok (Ukrainian Інна Циганок (patronymic: Олегівна) and Russian Инна Цыганок; born 24 January 1986 in Zhovti Vody,) is a professional Ukrainian Russian triathlete, member of the Ukrainian National Team ...

, who like Sapunova originates from the north Ukrainian town

Zhytomyr Zhytomyr ( ; see #Names, below for other names) is a city in the north of the western half of Ukraine. It is the Capital city, administrative center of Zhytomyr Oblast (Oblast, province), as well as the administrative center of the surrounding ...

and also represents the local sports club Dinamo (, Russian ). Giving precedence to, and winning at, the European Cup in Brno, Sapunova obviously decided not to take part in the National Championships of 2009. In 2010, Sapunova placed 2nd at the U23 European Championships and 11th at the U23 World Championships and finally, after disappointing positions in some preceding competitions, again she won a gold medal at the World Cup in Tiszaújváros. Yelistratova's new coach for the season 2011 is the famous triathlon expert Sergio Santos. In October 2023, Yelistratova was issued with a five-year ban backdated to July 2021 after testing positive for EPO twice in 2021.

Personal life

She is married to fellow triathlete

Danylo Sapunov Danylo Sapunov (, patronymic: Володимирович; born 5 April 1982 in Zaporizhya), is a Kazakhstani (since 2002 till 2009) and Ukraine, Ukrainian (until 2002 and since 2010) professional triathlete. From 2008 to 2010, Danylo Sapun ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yelistratova, Yuliya 1988 births Living people People from Ovruch Ukrainian female triathletes Olympic triathletes for Ukraine Triathletes at the 2008 Summer Olympics Triathletes at the 2012 Summer Olympics Triathletes at the 2016 Summer Olympics European Games competitors for Ukraine Triathletes at the 2015 European Games Sportspeople from Zhytomyr Oblast 21st-century Ukrainian sportswomen Doping cases in triathlon Ukrainian sportspeople in doping cases