2022 Bărbosu became
age-eligible for senior competition in 2022, and made her senior debut at the
City of Jesolo Trophy, where she finished fourteenth in the all-around and eighth on the uneven bars. She then competed at the
Osijek World Challenge Cup, where she won the gold medal on floor exercise, and took the bronze on balance beam behind
Pauline Schäfer and
Ana Đerek. At the
European Championships in
Munich, Bărbosu finished seventh in the all-around, fourth on floor, and eighth on the balance beam. She qualified to the beam final in first place. In the floor final she scored a 13.633. Additionally, she helped Romania qualify a full team for the
2022 World Championships in
Liverpool. In October Bărbosu competed at the
Mersin Challenge Cup where she won gold on uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise. At the
2022 World Championships in
Liverpool Bărbosu finished 20th in the all around final.
2023 Bărbosu competed at the
2023 European Championships where she helped Romania finish fifth as a team. Individually she finished ninth in the all-around and seventh on floor exercise. At the RomGym Trophy she placed first with her team, in the all-around and on the uneven bars. She also won a silver medal on balance beam. Later in the year, Bărbosu won her second Romanian national title in the all-around as well as a gold medal on the uneven bars and a fourth-place finish on the balance beam. She finished the year at the
2023 World Championships alongside
Lilia Cosman,
Amalia Ghigoarță,
Sabrina Voinea, and
Andreea Preda. During qualifications they finished tenth. Although they did not qualify for the team final, they qualified a team to the
2024 Olympic Games, a feat last achieved in
2012. Individually Bărbosu qualified to the all-around final where she finished twenty-third.
2024 In April, Bărbosu competed at the
2024 European Championships where the Romanian team finished fourth. Individually she placed fourth on vault. In June, she competed at the RomGym Trophy an international competition taking place in Romania. She won a silver medal in the all-around, behind
Kaylia Nemour and ahead of
Filipa Martins. In the apparatus finals she won the gold medal on vault. At the 2024 Olympics Games, Bărbosu competed as part of the Romanian team which qualified to the team finals for the first time in twelve years. Individually she qualified to the all-around and floor exercise finals. In the team finals, the Romanian team placed seventh, bettering their qualification standing of eight. In the all-around final she placed seventeenth. In the floor exercise final, Bărbosu performed fifth of nine, receiving a score of 13.700 which, as the final came to an end, placed her third after winning the execution-score tie-breaker with fellow Romanian
Sabrina Voinea. The last performer in the final was American gymnast
Jordan Chiles who received a score of 13.666 putting her in fifth place directly behind Bărbosu and Voinea. However, Chiles's coach,
Cécile Canqueteau-Landi, filed an inquiry on Chiles's score which resulted in a Chiles' difficulty score being raised a tenth. It was adjusted to 5.9 from 5.8, and the overall score was upgraded to 13.766, moving her from fifth into the bronze medal position, dropping Bărbosu to fourth and Voinea to fifth. Subsequently, Bărbosu appealed to the
Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) that Chiles' inquiry was filed twenty-four seconds after the one-minute deadline, and therefore should not have been reviewed in the first place. On August 10, five days after the final, the CAS found that Chiles' inquiry was filed beyond the 1-minute deadline specified in article 8.5 of FIG 2024 Technical Regulations (specifically 1 minute and 4 seconds). The CAS therefore ruled that the "initial score of 13.666 given to Ms Jordan Chiles in the final of the women's floor exercise shall be reinstated" and ordered the
International Gymnastics Federation to determine the ranking of the final and "assign the medal(s) in accordance with the above decision." The FIG reinstated Bărbosu to third place and stated that while they have restored the original standings, placing Bărbosu third, Voinea fourth, and Chiles fifth, the decision on medal allocation ultimately lies with the
International Olympic Committee, which subsequently decided to reallocate the bronze medal to Bărbosu and ordered Chiles to return her medal. The same day, Bărbosu posted on her Instagram a message to Voinea and Chiles saying that "my thoughts are with you. I know what you are feeling, because I've been through the same. [...] This situation would not have existed if the persons in charge had respected the regulation. We, athletes are not to be blamed, and the hate directed to us is painful." Later that day
USA Gymnastics (USAG) submitted additional video evidence suggesting that the inquiry was made at 47 seconds opposed to the official time of 1 minute and 4 seconds and requested reinstatement of the 13.766 score. The CAS denied USAG's appeal to reopen the case. USAG stated its intent to continue pursuing "every possible avenue and appeal process, including to the
Swiss Federal Tribunal". On 16 August, Bărbosu was officially awarded the
Olympic bronze medal in her hometown of
Focșani.
2025 Bărbosu returned to competition at the
2025 City of Jesolo Trophy where she won silver medals on balance beam and floor exercise behind
Manila Esposito and
Alba Petisco respectively. She was then selected to compete at the
European Championships alongside Voinea, Cosman,
Ella Oprea, and
Denisa Golgotă. During the qualification round, which also served as the team competition, Bărbosu helped Romania finish fourth as a team and individually she qualified to the all-around, balance beam, and floor exercise finals and was the first reserve for the uneven bars final. During the all-around final Bărbosu won the bronze medal behind Esposito and Petisco despite falling off of the balance beam. This was the first all-around medal won by a Romanian in 12 years, when
Larisa Iordache won silver in
2013. On the first day of apparatus finals Bărbosu was subbed into the uneven bars final after
Helen Kevric withdrew; she ended up winning the bronze medal behind
Nina Derwael and
Bettina Lili Czifra. In doing so she became the first Romanian to medal on uneven bars since
Steliana Nistor did so in
2008. On the final day of the competition Bărbosu won silver on balance beam behind Derwael and became the European Champion on floor exercise.
2026 On 29 January, 2026, the court partially overturned the CAS ruling on the 2024 Olympic floor medal. The court found that new audio-visual evidence could show that the U.S. coach's scoring inquiry was submitted within the required one-minute time limit for athlete Jordan Chiles, and returned the case to CAS for reconsideration. In February, it was reported that Bărbosu had missed three unannounced doping control tests. On 28 April, the president of the
Romanian Gymnastics Federation announced she was suspended for two years due to a doping control whereabouts violation; later that day, it was clarified that she was not yet suspended, only accused of the whereabouts violation. == NCAA gymnastics career ==