LAUSANNE: Romanian gymnast Ana Maria Barbosu received a two-year ban on Wednesday for three failures to meet anti-doping whereabouts requirements.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport’s Anti-Doping Division (CAS ADD) confirmed the penalty after reviewing her challenge.
Her suspension runs from May 5, 2026, until May 4, 2028. Therefore, the ban itself does not rule her out of the Los Angeles Olympics that July.
Barbosu, 20, challenged two of the recorded failures and argued against any period of ineligibility. However, the court upheld the violation while allowing her competitive results since December 2025 to stand.
Under anti-doping rules, athletes must provide their whereabouts and identify a daily 60-minute window for unannounced testing. Three missed tests or filing failures within 12 months constitute a violation.
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Barbosu, who studies at Stanford University, previously discussed the difficulties of moving to the United States and starting college. In a May Instagram statement, she insisted the matter had “nothing to do with prohibited substances”.
The Romanian gymnast received bronze in the floor exercise at the 2024 Paris Olympics after a disputed scoring decision involving American gymnast Jordan Chiles.
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Chiles and USA Gymnastics continue to challenge the medal ruling. That dispute remains separate from Barbosu’s anti-doping case. CAS said the parties had requested that no hearing in the medal dispute take place before May 2027.
With additional input from People
