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

Chepngetich was temporarily banned in July following a failed test for Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) - a banned diuretic used commonly as a masking agent - on 14 March.

Chepngetich's accomplishments which occurred before that sample - such as 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 ban but the runner's punishment was reduced to 36 months because she admitted to the infractions.

Nonetheless, the AIU will continue to investigate evidence from Chepngetich's phone which it found suggest "a reasonable suspicion that her failed test may have been deliberate" - featuring communications dating back to the year 2022.

"This matter concerning the positive test for the substance has been settled, but the unit will keep looking into the questionable evidence found on the runner's device to determine if any further infractions have taken place."

'Nobody is above the rules'

When interviewed in the fourth month by the integrity body, the marathoner, the first woman to complete a marathon in less than 2 hours 10 minutes, was unable to give an explanation for the positive test.

While the substance has a minimum reporting level of 20 nanograms per millilitre (ng/mL) in samples, the athlete's sample showed an estimated concentration of 3,800 ng/mL.

Traces of HCTZ below the minimal reporting level were also found in a sample collected from the runner 14 days prior, on 28 February.

At a subsequent meeting on July 11, Chepngetich was presented with the previously mentioned suspicious evidence acquired from her mobile. In the meantime, contamination had also been ruled out by the authority.

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

The AIU had "major doubts about the reliability of the new version of events" and, in the context of the athletics' anti-doping rules, such "recklessness" is considered "implied intention, for which an longer 48-month sanction applies".

An automatic one-year reduction was applied after the runner admitted the doping rule violations inside the specified 20-day period.

The 36-month suspension commenced on 19 April - when the athlete agreed to a voluntary provisional suspension - with the runner's results, honors, titles, participation and prize money from 14 March forfeited.

"No one is above the rules."

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

"Marathon organizers should be commended for jointly supporting doping prevention capable of uncovering doping violations committed by elite athletes in their races."