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Women's marathon global champion Ruth Chepngetich has been suspended for three years after the runner acknowledged anti-doping infractions.

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

Chepngetich's achievements which occurred before that test - including her global best time of two hours, nine minutes and 56 seconds in the Chicago event in October 2024 - will still stand.

The sports governing body had sought a four-year ban but the runner's punishment was lowered to three years because she admitted to the violations.

However, the integrity unit will keep examining evidence from the athlete's phone which it found indicate "strong grounds that her positive test may have been deliberate" - including communications dating back to 2022.

"This matter concerning the positive test for the substance has been settled, but the unit will continue to investigate the questionable evidence recovered from Chepngetich's phone to determine if any further infractions 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 urine, Chepngetich's test showed an estimated concentration of 3,800 ng/mL.

Traces of HCTZ under the detection threshold were also found in a sample taken from the runner two weeks earlier, on February 28.

At a subsequent meeting on July 11, Chepngetich was shown the previously mentioned suspicious evidence acquired from her phone. In the meantime, accidental exposure had also been ruled out by the authority.

Chepngetich changed her explanation on July 31, claiming that she had used her domestic worker's medication - marked as being the banned substance - after becoming ill two days before the failed test.

The AIU had "serious reservations about the reliability of the revised account" and, in the framework of the sport's doping rules, such "carelessness" is deemed "implied intention, for which an increased four-year penalty applies".

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

The 36-month suspension started on 19 April - when Chepngetich accepted a voluntary provisional suspension - with the runner's performances, awards, championships, participation and prize money from March 14 forfeited.

"Nobody is above the rules."

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

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