World champion archer Bernal banned for three years after steroid doping
Archery world champion Mariana Bernal of Mexico has been banned for three years for testing positive for an anabolic steroid three weeks after winning a team gold medal against the U.S. The International Testing Agency says the 23-year-old Bernal did not challenge the doping offense and is banned until after the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Archery world champion Mariana Bernal of Mexico was banned for three years, the International Testing Agency said Thursday, after testing positive for an anabolic steroid three weeks after winning a team gold medal against the U.S.
The 23-year-old Bernal did not challenge the doping offense and is banned until after the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. She also was stripped of her 2025 World Cup Finals title.
The ITA said she had one year cut from a routine four-year ban “due to her early admission” of the doping.
Bernal tested positive for nandrolone in an out-of-competition test in September last year, the agency said.
Three weeks earlier she helped Mexico beat the U.S. in the final to win gold in the women’s team compound event at the world championships held in Gwangju, South Korea.
The ITA said Bernal is stripped of her results from the date of the sample. She keeps her world title but loses the World Cup Finals win from last October, when she had beaten teammate and individual world champion Andrea Becerra in Nanjing, China.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.