Gymnastics-Olympic medallist Barbosu suspended for two years for whereabouts failures

Nov 4 - Romanian gymnast Ana Maria Barbosu has been banned for two years after committing three whereabouts failures under anti-doping rules, the Court of Arbitration for Sport's Anti-Doping Division said on Wednesday.

The 20-year-old's ban runs from May 5, 2026, when her provisional suspension began, leaving her eligible to return in May 2028, about two months before the Los Angeles Olympics, subject to any appeal.

Barbosu contested the proposed consequences and requested a hearing before CAS ADD, but a judge ruled that her three whereabouts failures between September and December 2025 had been “correctly recorded”.

Athletes in registered testing pools must provide their whereabouts, including a daily 60-minute time slot during which they can be located for out-of-competition testing.

Any combination of three missed tests and/or filing failures within a 12-month period constitutes an anti-doping rule violation, for which the standard sanction is two years, subject to the athlete's degree of fault.

"The Court of Arbitration for Sport Anti-Doping Division (CAS ADD) has partially upheld a request for disciplinary proceedings by World Gymnastics against gymnast Ana Maria Barbosu," CAS ADD said in a statement.

CAS ADD said the request was only partially upheld because Barbosu's competitive results since December 2025 would not be disqualified.

The International Testing Agency (ITA), which administers World Gymnastics' anti-doping programme, said it acknowledged the ruling.

The floor exercise bronze medal Barbosu won at the 2024 Paris Olympics remains the subject of a separate CAS case involving American gymnast Jordan Chiles after the Swiss Federal Tribunal referred the dispute back to CAS for reconsideration.

CAS said on Wednesday that the parties in that case had requested that no hearing be held before May 2027 while written proceedings continue. REUTERS