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

Chepngetich was temporarily banned in the seventh month following a positive test for a banned substance - a prohibited substance often utilized as a masking agent - on 14 March.

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

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) had requested a four-year ban but the runner's punishment was lowered to 36 months because she admitted to the infractions.

Nonetheless, the AIU will continue to investigate evidence from Chepngetich's mobile device which it found suggest "strong grounds that her failed test may have been deliberate" - including messages from as early as the year 2022.

"The case regarding the failed test for HCTZ has been settled, but the unit will continue to investigate the questionable evidence found on the runner's phone to ascertain if any other violations have occurred."

'No one is exempt from regulations'

When questioned in the fourth month by the integrity body, 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 HCTZ has a lowest detectable limit of 20 ng/mL in urine, Chepngetich's sample showed an approximate level of 3,800 ng/mL.

Traces of the diuretic below the detection threshold were also identified in a sample collected from the runner two weeks earlier, on 28 February.

At a later interview on 11 July, the record holder was presented with the previously mentioned questionable proof acquired from her mobile. Meanwhile, accidental exposure had also been ruled out by the authority.

The athlete altered her story on July 31, claiming that she had used her housemaid's medication - marked as being the banned substance - after falling sick two days before the positive test.

The unit had "serious reservations about the credibility of the revised account" and, in the framework of the athletics' doping rules, such "carelessness" is considered "indirect intent, for which an increased four-year penalty is applicable".

An standard 12-month decrease was granted after the runner confessed to the doping rule violations within the specified 20-day period.

The 36-month suspension commenced on April 19 - when the athlete accepted a voluntary provisional suspension - with the runner's performances, honors, championships, participation and earnings from March 14 lost.

"Nobody is exempt from regulations."

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

"Marathon organizers should be praised for collectively funding anti-doping efforts able to revealing doping violations performed by top competitors in their events."