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Female long-distance global champion Ruth Chepngetich has been suspended for three years after the Kenyan acknowledged doping rule violations.

Chepngetich was provisionally suspended in July following a positive test for Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) - a prohibited substance often utilized as a masking agent - on March 14.

Chepngetich's accomplishments which occurred before that sample - such as her world record performance of 2:09:56 in the Chicago event in October 2024 - will remain valid.

The sports governing body had sought a four-year suspension but the runner's penalty was reduced to 36 months because she confessed to the violations.

Nonetheless, the integrity unit will keep examining proof from the athlete's phone which it found indicate "a reasonable suspicion that her failed test may have been deliberate" - including communications from as early as 2022.

"The case concerning the failed test for the substance has been resolved, but the unit will continue to investigate the questionable evidence recovered from Chepngetich's device to determine if any further infractions have occurred."

'Nobody is above the rules'

When questioned in April by the AIU, Chepngetich, the initial female to complete a marathon in less than 2 hours 10 minutes, could not provide an explanation for the failed test.

While the substance has a lowest detectable limit of 20 ng/mL in urine, the athlete's sample showed an approximate level of 3,800 ng/mL.

Small amounts of HCTZ below the minimal reporting level were also found in a sample taken from the runner 14 days prior, on 28 February.

At a subsequent meeting on 11 July, the record holder was shown the aforementioned questionable proof acquired from her mobile. In the meantime, accidental exposure had also been disproven by the AIU.

The athlete altered her story on 31 July, claiming that she had used her domestic worker's pills - labeled as being the banned substance - after becoming ill 48 hours prior to the positive test.

The AIU had "serious reservations about the reliability of the new version of events" and, in the framework of the sport's anti-doping rules, such "recklessness" is deemed "indirect intent, for which an longer 48-month penalty is applicable".

An automatic one-year reduction was applied after the runner confessed to the anti-doping breaches within the 20 days required.

The three-year ban started on April 19 - when Chepngetich accepted a voluntary provisional suspension - with the runner's performances, awards, championships, participation and earnings from 14 March forfeited.

"Nobody is above the rules."

"While disappointing for those who put their trust in this runner, this is how the system is supposed to work."

"The road-running industry should be commended for jointly supporting doping prevention capable of revealing substance abuses committed by elite athletes in their races."