Romanian athlete barred from Paris Olympics after court upholds doping ban
Team Romania dropped to 106 representatives at the Paris Olympics after the Court of Arbitration for Sport partially upheld a ban imposed on athlete Florentina Iușco by the World Anti-Doping Agency, or WADA.
Iușco tested positive for furosemide, a banned diuretic, in April 2023. The analysis of both her A and B samples confirmed the result, resulting in an anti-doping rule violation. The 28-year-old was going to compete in the long jump event at the Olympics.
After the positive test, Romania's National Anti-Doping Organisation sanctioned her with a reprimand with no period of ineligibility on the basis that she was not at fault or was not negligent. However, after WADA appealed that decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the arbitrator determined she had failed to exercise the standard of care required for a "no significant fault or negligence" ruling.
According to Reuters, CAS imposed a two-year ban on Iușco backdated to February 1 and disqualified all of her results from April 23 last year.
Romania is now represented by 3 male and 9 female athletes in the athletics section at the Paris Olympics after Iușco’s ban.
(Photo source: Iușcoflorentina on Instagram)
