Long-distance running Record Holder Ruth Chepngetich Given 36-month Ban

Women's marathon world record-holder the athlete has been prohibited for 36 months after the Kenyan admitted to anti-doping rule violations.

Chepngetich was temporarily banned in July following a failed test for Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) - a banned diuretic often utilized as a concealing drug - on 14 March.

The athlete's achievements which pre-date that test - including her global best performance of 2:09:56 in the Chicago event in 2024 - will still stand.

The sports governing body had requested a 48-month ban but the runner's penalty was reduced to three years because she confessed to the violations.

However, the AIU will keep examining evidence from Chepngetich's mobile device which it found suggest "strong grounds that her positive test may have been intentional" - including messages dating back to the year 2022.

"This matter concerning the positive test for the substance has been resolved, but the unit will keep looking into the suspicious material recovered from Chepngetich's device to ascertain if any further infractions have taken place."

'Nobody is above the rules'

When questioned in April by the integrity body, Chepngetich, the initial female to run a marathon in under 2:10, could not provide an explanation for the positive test.

While the substance has a lowest detectable limit of 20 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 identified in a test collected from Chepngetich two weeks earlier, on 28 February.

At a subsequent meeting on July 11, the record holder was shown the aforementioned questionable proof obtained from her phone. Meanwhile, contamination had also been ruled out by the AIU.

Chepngetich altered her story on July 31, stating that she had taken her housemaid's medication - labeled as being the banned substance - after becoming ill 48 hours prior to the failed test.

The unit had "serious reservations about the credibility of the new version of events" and, in the framework of the sport's doping rules, such "recklessness" is considered "indirect intent, for which an longer 48-month penalty is applicable".

An automatic one-year reduction was granted after the runner confessed to the doping rule violations inside the specified 20-day period.

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

"Nobody is above the rules."

"Although unfortunate for those who put their trust in this athlete, this is how the system is designed to operate."

"Marathon organizers should be commended for collectively funding doping prevention capable of revealing substance abuses performed by top competitors in their events."