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Female long-distance world record-holder Ruth Chepngetich has been banned for 36 months after the runner acknowledged anti-doping infractions.

Chepngetich was provisionally suspended in July following a failed test for Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) - a prohibited substance often utilized as a concealing drug - on 14 March.

Chepngetich's achievements which occurred before that sample - including her world record performance of two hours, nine minutes and 56 seconds in Chicago in 2024 - will remain valid.

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) had requested a 48-month ban but the runner's penalty was reduced to 36 months because she confessed to the infractions.

Nonetheless, the AIU will keep examining proof from the athlete's mobile device which it found indicate "a reasonable suspicion that her positive test may have been deliberate" - featuring communications from as early as the year 2022.

"The case regarding the positive test for HCTZ has been settled, but the AIU will continue to investigate the suspicious material found on Chepngetich's phone to ascertain if any other violations have taken place."

'No one is exempt from regulations'

When questioned in the fourth month by the AIU, the marathoner, the initial female to run a marathon in under 2:10, could not provide an reason for the failed test.

Although HCTZ has a minimum reporting level of 20 ng/mL in samples, the athlete's sample showed an approximate level of 3,800 ng/mL.

Traces of the diuretic below the detection threshold were also found in a test taken from the runner two weeks earlier, on February 28.

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 disproven by the AIU.

The athlete altered her story on 31 July, claiming that she had taken her domestic worker's pills - labeled as being the banned substance - after falling sick 48 hours prior to the positive test.

The AIU had "serious reservations about the reliability of the revised account" and, in the context of the athletics' doping regulations, such "recklessness" is deemed "indirect intent, for which an increased four-year sanction applies".

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

The 36-month suspension started on April 19 - when Chepngetich agreed to a temporary ban - with the competitor's results, honors, championships, participation and earnings since 14 March 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 commended for collectively funding doping prevention capable of uncovering substance abuses committed by elite athletes in their races."