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Female long-distance world record-holder Ruth Chepngetich has been suspended for three years after the Kenyan admitted to anti-doping rule violations.

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

The athlete's achievements which occurred before that sample - such as her world record time of two hours, nine minutes and 56 seconds in Chicago in October 2024 - will still stand.

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) had requested a 48-month suspension but the runner's penalty was lowered to three years because she confessed to the infractions.

However, the AIU will keep examining proof from the athlete's mobile device which it found indicate "strong grounds that her positive test may have been deliberate" - featuring communications dating back to 2022.

"This matter regarding the failed test for the substance has been settled, but the AIU will keep looking into the suspicious material found on the runner's device to determine if any other violations have taken place."

'Nobody is above the rules'

When interviewed in the fourth month by the AIU, the marathoner, the first woman to run a marathon in under 2:10, could not provide an reason for the failed test.

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

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

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

Chepngetich changed her explanation on 31 July, claiming that she had taken her housemaid's medication - marked as being the banned substance - after falling sick 48 hours prior to the failed test.

The unit had "major doubts about the reliability of the new version of events" and, in the context of the athletics' anti-doping regulations, such "carelessness" is considered "implied intention, for which an increased four-year sanction applies".

An automatic one-year reduction was applied after Chepngetich confessed to the anti-doping breaches within the specified 20-day period.

The three-year ban started on 19 April - when the athlete agreed to a voluntary provisional suspension - with the competitor's performances, awards, titles, participation and prize money since March 14 forfeited.

"Nobody is above the rules."

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

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