Moscow/London: The sportswoman who blew the whistle on doping in Russian athletics is in hiding abroad, pursued by a barrage of criticism from former colleagues and officials at home who accuse her of betraying her country.

Yulia Stepanova, an international runner who was herself suspended for doping, secretly recorded Russian coaches and athletes over almost two years describing how they used performance-enhancing drugs.

The 29-year-old's evidence formed a major part of an investigation that led to Russian athletes being suspended from international competition this month, triggering the deepest crisis in Russian sport since the boycott-hit 1980 Moscow Olympics.

While her role has been described as courageous by supporters abroad, at home she has faced accusations of being a liar, and of betraying her countrymen for money or in exchange for a residence permit in a wealthy country.

"She's a traitor," said Vladimir Kazarin, Stepanova's former coach who was named as someone involved in doping in the investigation report, commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada). He denies the allegations.

"She betrayed me, betrayed her homeland. That's why she's a traitor," Kazarin told Russia's NTV broadcaster.

Before her accusations were made public last year, Stepanova and her husband - who have a child of pre-school age - left Russia and moved to Germany where they set up home but kept a low profile.

Christoph Kopp, the head of the local athletics club who helped them settle in Germany, said they kept their details out of public records so they could not be traced, and wrote the family name 'Mueller' - one of Germany's most common names - on the doorbell of their home.

"We handled the situation very, very carefully when they came to Germany," said Kopp, chairman of the LAC Olympia 88 Berlin athletics club.

He said Stepanova and her husband were on the move again in September this year, leaving Germany for North America. Someone connected to Wada had arranged for them to make the move, he said.

Wada did not respond to questions about Stepanova.

Attempts to track down Stepanova and her husband Vitaly, through colleagues, acquaintances and international sports officials were unsuccessful. It is not known where they are living.

The last publicly-available record of her whereabouts was from the German capital, where she was listed as having competed for LAC Olympia 88 Berlin in a 1,500 metres race in July this year.

Russia's sports authorities have disputed some of the Wada report's allegations about doping, but they say they will do everything necessary to get their athletes back into international competition, including replacing the leadership of their athletics federation and revamping the national anti-doping agency.

The attitude in Russia to Stepanova typifies how many in the country view the scandal: they acknowledge there is a problem, but also believe it has been blown out of proportion by Russia's rivals for political reasons.

Stepanova is a middle-distance runner who competed for Russia until she was herself handed a two-year suspension on suspicion of doping in 2013.

She and her husband, a former Russian anti-doping agency official, first took on the role of whistle-blowers last year, when they featured as witnesses in a TV documentary that alleged widespread corruption and drug-taking in Russian athletics.

Hajo Seppelt, the journalist who made the documentary for German TV station ARD, said the couple - anticipating negative reaction - left Russia for Germany last year, before the programme was broadcast.

Asked what he thought about the role Stepanova played in the report, Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said: "I would like to hope that she had a genuine desire to restore health to the sport, if that is what is really motivating her."

Meanwhile, there will no be Russian athletes at the 2016 world indoor championships in Portland, Oregon next March, a source with knowledge of the decision said.

The championships will be the first global athletics meeting the Russians will miss since the IAAF suspended Moscow last week amid allegations of widespread and state-sponsored doping, detailed in a World Anti-Doping Agency independent commission report. (Reuters)