Three years ago, shoulder bursitis left Mariana Bernal unable to hold a glass of water—a career-threatening injury for an archer. However, the Mexican made a strong comeback and beat World No. 1 Andrea Becerra in June 2025, before contributing to Mexico’s first-ever women’s compound team world title months later. But little under a year later, the 23-year-old athlete has been handed a three-year suspension after testing positive for a banned substance.

On July 2, the International Testing Agency announced that Bernal has agreed to a three-year ban after testing positive for nandrolone. Per the Cleveland Clinic, it’s an anabolic-androgenic steroid that helps build lean muscle mass, recovery capacity, and increase bone density.  Bernal’s period of ineligibility runs from December 22, 2025, to December 21, 2028, ending her hopes for the Los Angeles Olympics.

The positive sample was obtained by the ITA during an out-of-competition test conducted on September 29, 2025, just weeks after Bernal participated in Mexico’s victory over the United States in the women’s compound team final at the World Archery Championships, Gwangju, South Korea. Bernal did not challenge the anti-doping violation. Consequently, the ITA reduced the standard four-year ban to three years.

As part of the ruling, all of Bernal’s individual results between the date of sample collection and the start of her provisional suspension have been disqualified. That means she loses her 2025 Archery World Cup Final title in Nanjing. However, Bernal retains the women’s compound team world title won in South Korea, as it was earned three weeks before the sample collection.

Prior to the suspension, Bernal was one of the brightest talents in compound archery. A product of Mexico’s youth system, she steadily climbed the ranks through a string of international successes. She previously earned a bronze medal at the 2018 Pan American Archery Championship, and, as a junior, won the gold in the compound team event at the 2021 World Archery Youth Championships. At the senior level, she continued to excel, making numerous contributions to Mexico’s success in the Pan American Games.

But Bernal is not the only archer to face a suspension in recent months.

Indian Archery star Prathamesh Jawkar faces a career setback

Last month, Indian compound archer Prathamesh Samadhan Jawkar accepted a two-year ban after accumulating three whereabouts failures within a 12-month period. The International Testing Agency, on behalf of World Archery, stated that Jawkar had not protested the violation and accepted the sanctions. So, he is ineligible from April 19, 2026, until April 18, 2028.

The ban was a big blow to one of India’s most accomplished compound archers. One of his greatest achievements was leading the Indian men’s compound team to a gold medal at the 2022 Asian Games, beating South Korea in the final.

The 22-year-old had a remarkable breakthrough campaign in 2023. He shocked World No.1 Mike Schloesser to clinch his first individual Archery World Cup victory in Shanghai and assisted India to take the team gold in men’s compound at the Paris World Cup. Later that year, he added a silver medal at the Archery World Cup Final held in Hermosillo, Mexico, and became one of the few Indian compound archers to reach the podium at the prestigious competition.