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Female long-distance world record-holder Ruth Chepngetich has been banned for 36 months after the Kenyan admitted to doping rule violations.

The record holder was provisionally suspended in the seventh month following a positive test for a banned substance - a prohibited substance often utilized as a masking agent - on March 14.

The athlete's accomplishments which occurred before that sample - such as her world record time 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 lowered to 36 months because she admitted to the infractions.

Nonetheless, the integrity unit will continue to investigate proof from Chepngetich's phone which it found indicate "a reasonable suspicion that her positive test may have been deliberate" - including communications dating back to 2022.

"The case concerning the positive test for the substance has been resolved, but the AIU will keep looking into the suspicious material recovered from the runner's device to determine if any other violations have taken place."

'No one is exempt from regulations'

When questioned in the fourth month by the AIU, Chepngetich, the first woman to run a marathon in less than 2 hours 10 minutes, could not provide an reason for the failed test.

Although HCTZ has a lowest detectable limit of 20 ng/mL in urine, Chepngetich's sample showed an estimated concentration of 3800 ng/mL.

Traces of the diuretic under the detection threshold were also found in a test collected from Chepngetich 14 days prior, on February 28.

At a subsequent meeting on 11 July, Chepngetich was presented with the previously mentioned questionable proof obtained from her mobile. In the meantime, accidental exposure had also been ruled out by the AIU.

The athlete changed her explanation on July 31, stating that she had taken her housemaid's pills - marked as being the banned substance - after falling sick 48 hours prior to the positive test.

The unit had "serious reservations about the reliability of the revised account" and, in the framework of the athletics' anti-doping regulations, such "recklessness" is deemed "implied intention, for which an increased four-year sanction applies".

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

The three-year ban commenced on 19 April - when the athlete agreed to a voluntary provisional suspension - with the competitor's results, awards, championships, participation and prize money from 14 March lost.

"No one is exempt from regulations."

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

"Marathon organizers should be commended for jointly supporting doping prevention able to revealing substance abuses performed by top competitors in their events."