Olympic floor exercise bronze medalist Ana Bărbosu announced a commitment to Stanford and could become the first Olympic medalist from Romania to compete in NCAA gymnastics.
Bărbosu’s post indicated she will be part of the class of 2029, which would mean debuting for the Cardinal next season.
Bărbosu, 18, won Romania’s first Olympic gymnastics medal in 12 years at the Paris Games, though an ongoing appeals process involving American Jordan Chiles’ score could affect the results.
On Aug. 5, Chiles originally won floor bronze after a U.S. inquiry into her difficulty score led to it being raised by one tenth. That moved her from fifth place into bronze-medal position, passing Romanians Sabrina Voinea and Bărbosu.
After a Romanian appeal, a Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) panel on Aug. 10 reverted Chiles’ score because the scoring inquiry was recorded as submitted four seconds past the one-minute time limit. Chiles was moved back to fifth place. Bărbosu became the bronze medalist.
On Sept. 16, it was announced that Chiles appealed the court decision to the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland. Rulings by CAS, which is headquartered in Switzerland, can be appealed to Swiss federal court on limited procedural grounds.
The Chiles appeal has not been resolved yet. The appeal asserted that CAS refused to consider video evidence found on Aug. 11 that showed the inquiry was submitted on time.
Many Olympic medalists have competed in NCAA gymnastics, but almost all of them have been American. That includes active gymnasts Chiles at UCLA and Jade Carey at Oregon State.
Amelie Morgan, a Tokyo Olympic team bronze medalist for Great Britain, is a senior competing for Utah.
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