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Female long-distance global champion Ruth Chepngetich has been banned for three years after the runner admitted to doping infractions.

The record holder 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 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 requested a four-year suspension but the runner's penalty was reduced to 36 months because she confessed to the violations.

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

"The case concerning the positive test for the substance has been resolved, but the AIU will keep looking into the suspicious material found on Chepngetich's phone to determine if any further infractions have occurred."

'No one is exempt from regulations'

When interviewed in April by the integrity body, the marathoner, the first woman to complete a marathon in less than 2 hours 10 minutes, could not provide an explanation for the failed test.

While HCTZ has a minimum reporting level of 20 ng/mL in samples, Chepngetich's test showed an approximate level of 3800 ng/mL.

Small amounts of HCTZ below the minimal reporting level were also found in a test collected from Chepngetich two weeks earlier, on February 28.

At a subsequent meeting on 11 July, the record holder was presented with the previously mentioned questionable proof acquired from her mobile. In the meantime, accidental exposure had also been ruled out by the AIU.

Chepngetich altered her story on July 31, claiming that she had taken her housemaid's pills - labeled as being the banned substance - after falling sick two days before the failed test.

The AIU had "serious reservations about the reliability of the new version of events" and, in the context of the athletics' doping rules, such "carelessness" is deemed "implied intention, for which an longer 48-month sanction applies".

An automatic one-year reduction was granted after Chepngetich admitted the doping rule violations inside the 20 days required.

The three-year ban started on April 19 - when the athlete agreed to a voluntary provisional suspension - with the runner's performances, honors, titles, appearance and prize money from 14 March forfeited.

"Nobody is exempt from regulations."

"While disappointing for those who had faith in this athlete, this is how the system is designed to operate."

"Marathon organizers should be commended for jointly supporting anti-doping efforts able to revealing doping violations committed by elite athletes in their races."