Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu has been suspended from competition for two years following three whereabouts failures within a 12-month period, as ruled by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Her suspension began in May 2026 and will conclude in May 2028.
Athletes are required to provide a 60-minute time slot where they can be located for unannounced anti-doping tests. Barbosu committed three such failures, which is a violation of anti-doping regulations.
Barbosu appealed the initial suspension, which was partially upheld by the CAS. The gymnast addressed the situation on her Instagram stories in May, stating that the issue was unrelated to prohibited substances and that she was navigating a significant transition, including moving to the United States and starting college at Stanford.
This suspension comes after Barbosu was involved in a controversy regarding the bronze medal for the floor exercise at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Initially, American gymnast Jordan Chiles was awarded bronze after a judge reviewed her score. However, the decision was reversed, placing Barbosu and her Romanian teammate Sabrina Maneca-Voinea ahead of Chiles. The CAS is set to rehear the medal dispute in May 2027.
