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Female long-distance global champion Ruth Chepngetich has been prohibited for three years after the Kenyan confessed to doping infractions.

Chepngetich was provisionally suspended in July following a positive test for Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) - a banned diuretic used commonly as a concealing drug - on 14 March.

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

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) had requested a four-year ban but the 31-year-old punishment was reduced to 36 months because she admitted to the infractions.

Nonetheless, the integrity unit will keep examining proof from the athlete's phone which it found indicate "a reasonable suspicion that her positive test may have been intentional" - featuring messages dating back to 2022.

"The case concerning the positive test for HCTZ has been resolved, but the AIU will keep looking into the questionable evidence found on Chepngetich's device to determine if any further infractions have occurred."

'No one is exempt from regulations'

When questioned in April by the AIU, the marathoner, the first woman to complete a marathon in less than 2 hours 10 minutes, could not provide an explanation for the positive test.

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

Traces of HCTZ below the detection threshold were also found in a sample collected from Chepngetich two weeks earlier, on February 28.

At a later interview on 11 July, Chepngetich was shown the previously mentioned suspicious evidence obtained from her mobile. Meanwhile, contamination had also been disproven by the AIU.

The athlete altered her story on July 31, stating that she had used her domestic worker's pills - labeled as being the banned substance - 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 framework of the athletics' doping regulations, such "recklessness" is considered "implied intention, for which an longer 48-month penalty applies".

An standard 12-month decrease was applied after Chepngetich admitted the doping breaches inside the 20 days required.

The 36-month suspension commenced on April 19 - when the athlete accepted a temporary ban - with the runner's performances, honors, championships, appearance and earnings since 14 March forfeited.

"No one is above the rules."

"While disappointing for those who had faith in this athlete, this is how the system is supposed to work."

"The road-running industry should be praised for jointly supporting doping prevention able to revealing substance abuses committed by top competitors in their events."