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Female long-distance global champion Ruth Chepngetich has been banned for 36 months after the Kenyan acknowledged doping rule violations.

The record holder was provisionally suspended in the seventh month following a positive test for Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) - a banned diuretic often utilized as a masking agent - on 14 March.

The athlete's accomplishments which occurred before that test - including her global best time of 2:09:56 in Chicago in October 2024 - will remain valid.

The sports governing body had sought a four-year ban but the 31-year-old punishment was reduced to three years because she admitted to the violations.

However, the AIU will continue to investigate proof from Chepngetich's phone which it found indicate "a reasonable suspicion that her positive test may have been intentional" - including messages from as early as the year 2022.

"The case regarding the failed test for HCTZ has been resolved, but the AIU will keep looking into the suspicious material found on the runner's device to determine if any further infractions have taken place."

'Nobody is above the rules'

When questioned in the fourth month by the AIU, Chepngetich, the first woman to run a marathon in under 2:10, was unable to give an explanation for the failed test.

While HCTZ has a lowest detectable limit of 20 ng/mL in samples, Chepngetich's test showed an approximate level of 3,800 ng/mL.

Small amounts of the diuretic below the detection threshold were also found in a sample collected from the runner two weeks earlier, on 28 February.

At a later interview on 11 July, Chepngetich was shown the aforementioned suspicious evidence acquired from her mobile. Meanwhile, accidental exposure had also been disproven by the AIU.

The athlete altered her story on July 31, stating that she had taken her domestic worker's medication - marked as being the banned substance - after falling sick two days before the positive test.

The unit had "serious reservations about the credibility of the new version of events" and, in the framework of the sport's doping regulations, such "recklessness" is considered "indirect intent, for which an increased four-year sanction applies".

An automatic one-year reduction was granted after Chepngetich admitted the anti-doping rule violations within the specified 20-day period.

The three-year ban commenced on April 19 - when the athlete accepted a voluntary provisional suspension - with the competitor's performances, awards, titles, appearance and earnings since 14 March lost.

"No one is above the rules."

"Although unfortunate for those who had faith in this runner, this is how the system is supposed to work."

"Marathon organizers should be praised for jointly supporting doping prevention capable of revealing substance abuses performed by top competitors in their events."