World Champ Mariana Bernal Gets 3-Year Ban, Misses LA 2028

Mariana Bernal, 23, helped Mexico claim compound team gold at the 2025 World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea — then popped positive for the anabolic steroid nandrolone three weeks later in an out-of-competition sample. The International Testing Agency broke that news Thursday from Lausanne.

Standard punishment for this kind of violation is four years. The ITA knocked one off after Bernal owned the mistake early and waived any legal challenge. Three years, then. That ban runs well past the 2028 LA Olympics, so her realistic path to competing there is basically gone.

The Gwangju gold stays put — her positive test came after the event, so the medal's clean. But everything from that test date forward gets wiped, including her World Cup Finals win last October in Nanjing. That's the result where she edged teammate Andrea Becerra, the individual world champion.