Gymnast Yul Moldauer’s 16-month suspension tested his resolve and reinforced his love for the sport

Yul Moldauer offers no excuses for the 16-month whereabouts suspension he received from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency for missing three drug tests in 2024.

That didn’t make looking at his mentions on social media any easier for a gymnast who has a national title, two world championship medals and an Olympic appearance on his resume.

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“I’ve read everything online, ‘Maybe Yul was doing drugs,’” Moldauer said. “I have more than 10 years of being clean. It sucks. But at the end of the day, it’s my responsibility.”

While Moldauer points out all three of the tests he missed came during the competition season — when schedules can get hectic — and that he successfully passed spot tests in between the misses, he also knows that it doesn’t matter. He knew the rules and he got sloppy.

“It’s just embarrassing,” he said.

And now, it’s over. Moldauer will return to international competition for the first time in two years on Saturday when he competes as part of Team USA at the reimagined American Cup in Henderson, Nevada, just outside Las Vegas.

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The event — which will use the mixed team format that will likely make its Olympic debut at the 2028 Los Angeles Games — includes 43 gymnasts from a dozen countries, led by Olympic and world champion Daiki Hashimoto of Japan and Hezly Rivera, the reigning U.S. champion and a member of the star-laden American team that won gold at the 2024 Paris Games.

It’s a particularly stacked field, one that Moldauer is grateful to be a part of after the 29-year-old’s long, winding path back from the brink.

The suspension banned Moldauer from working out at USA Gymnastics-affiliated gyms. It also cast him adrift.

“I was a little lost, I was not myself,” he said. “I was depressed. I was sad. I was torn.”

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Relentlessly upbeat when he’s on the competition floor — Moldauer is a livewire when he salutes the judges, punctuating every dismount with a fist pump and a “Let’s go!” — finding that spark while eyeing a year-plus away from the sport that has long defined him has forced him to make some difficult choices.

He got a job at a factory…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/gymnast-yul-moldauers-16-month-134401942.html

Author : WILL GRAVES

Publish date : 2026-03-06 13:44:00

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