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Female long-distance global champion Ruth Chepngetich has been prohibited for 36 months after the Kenyan admitted to anti-doping infractions.

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

The athlete's achievements which pre-date that sample - including her world record performance of two hours, nine minutes and 56 seconds in Chicago in October 2024 - will still stand.

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) had sought a 48-month ban but the 31-year-old penalty was lowered to 36 months because she confessed to the violations.

However, the AIU will keep examining evidence from Chepngetich's phone which it found suggest "strong grounds that her failed test may have been deliberate" - including communications from as early as the year 2022.

"The case concerning the failed test for HCTZ has been settled, but the AIU will keep looking into the questionable evidence found on Chepngetich's phone to ascertain if any further infractions have taken place."

'No one is exempt from regulations'

When questioned in April by the integrity body, Chepngetich, the first woman to run a marathon in less than 2 hours 10 minutes, could not provide an explanation for the failed test.

Although the substance has a minimum reporting level of 20 nanograms per millilitre (ng/mL) in samples, Chepngetich's sample showed an estimated concentration of 3800 ng/mL.

Traces of the diuretic below the detection threshold were also identified in a test taken from the runner two weeks earlier, on February 28.

At a subsequent meeting on July 11, the record holder was presented with the aforementioned suspicious evidence obtained from her mobile. Meanwhile, accidental exposure had also been ruled out by the authority.

The athlete altered her story on 31 July, stating that she had used her domestic worker's pills - labeled as being HCTZ - after becoming ill two days before the failed test.

The AIU had "serious reservations about the credibility of the new version of events" and, in the context of the sport's doping rules, such "recklessness" is considered "implied intention, for which an longer 48-month sanction is applicable".

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

The three-year ban commenced on 19 April - when Chepngetich accepted a voluntary provisional suspension - with the runner's performances, honors, championships, participation and earnings since 14 March lost.

"No one is above the rules."

"While unfortunate for those who put their trust in this athlete, this is how the process is designed to operate."

"The road-running industry should be praised for jointly supporting anti-doping efforts capable of revealing doping violations committed by top competitors in their races."