Jyothi Surekha Vennam's bronze medal from the 2025 Archery World Cup Finals has been upgraded to silver, after Mexico's Mariana Bernal was disqualified for an anti-doping rule violation.
Bernal tested positive for nandrolone, an anabolic steroid, in an out-of-competition control conducted in September 2025, and according to the World Anti-Doping Agency did not contest the violation. Her results were struck under World Archery's rules, triggering a reshuffle of the women's compound podium from the Finals: Andrea Becerra of Mexico moves up from silver to gold, Vennam from bronze to silver, and Great Britain's Ella Gibson is elevated to bronze.
Medal reallocations of this kind are an unglamorous but important part of clean sport — results corrected months later still matter to the athletes who competed fairly, and to the records they will carry through their careers.
For India, the upgrade adds another silver to Vennam's remarkable collection of World Cup Finals medals, and it is a timely reminder for every archer in the state pathway: anti-doping duties apply at every level, and the Punjab Archery Association encourages all competitive archers and coaches to stay current with NADA's education material.
Source & further reading: The Bridge — Jyothi Vennam's Archery World Cup Finals medal upgraded as opponent disqualified (7 July 2026).
Featured photo: J. Rachel Spencer, U.S. Air Force (public domain), via Wikimedia Commons.
