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Women's marathon global champion Ruth Chepngetich has been suspended for 36 months after the Kenyan confessed to anti-doping infractions.

Chepngetich was temporarily banned in the seventh month following a failed test for Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) - a prohibited substance often utilized as a concealing drug - on 14 March.

Chepngetich's achievements which pre-date that test - 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 four-year suspension but the 31-year-old punishment was lowered to three years because she admitted to the infractions.

Nonetheless, the integrity unit will keep examining proof from the athlete's phone which it found indicate "strong grounds that her failed test may have been intentional" - featuring messages from as early as 2022.

"The case regarding the positive test for HCTZ has been settled, but the unit will keep looking into the questionable evidence found on the runner's device to ascertain if any other violations have occurred."

'No one is exempt from regulations'

When interviewed in April 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.

While the substance has a minimum reporting level of 20 ng/mL in urine, Chepngetich's test showed an approximate level of 3,800 ng/mL.

Traces of the diuretic under the minimal reporting level were also found in a sample collected from Chepngetich two weeks earlier, on 28 February.

At a subsequent meeting on July 11, the record holder was presented with the aforementioned questionable proof acquired from her phone. In the meantime, accidental exposure had also been disproven by the AIU.

The athlete changed her explanation on 31 July, claiming that she had used her housemaid's pills - labeled as being HCTZ - after becoming ill 48 hours prior to the positive test.

The AIU had "major doubts about the credibility of the revised account" and, in the framework of the athletics' doping regulations, such "carelessness" is considered "implied intention, for which an longer 48-month sanction applies".

An standard 12-month decrease was applied after Chepngetich admitted the anti-doping breaches inside the specified 20-day period.

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

"Nobody is exempt from regulations."

"Although disappointing for those who put their trust in this runner, this is how the process is supposed to work."

"The road-running industry should be commended for collectively funding doping prevention capable of uncovering doping violations committed by elite athletes in their races."