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Female long-distance world record-holder Ruth Chepngetich has been prohibited for three years after the Kenyan confessed to doping infractions.

Chepngetich was provisionally suspended in the seventh month following a failed test for Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) - a prohibited substance often utilized as a masking agent - on March 14.

Chepngetich's accomplishments which occurred before that sample - such as her global best performance of two hours, nine minutes and 56 seconds in the Chicago event in October 2024 - will remain valid.

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

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

"The case concerning the positive test for HCTZ 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."

'No one is exempt from regulations'

When interviewed in the fourth month by the integrity body, Chepngetich, the initial female to run a marathon in under 2:10, could not provide an reason for the positive test.

While HCTZ has a lowest detectable limit of 20 nanograms per millilitre (ng/mL) in samples, the athlete's test showed an estimated concentration of 3,800 ng/mL.

Traces of HCTZ under the detection threshold were also found in a sample collected from Chepngetich 14 days prior, on 28 February.

At a subsequent meeting on 11 July, the record holder was presented with the previously mentioned questionable proof acquired from her mobile. Meanwhile, contamination had also been disproven by the authority.

Chepngetich changed her explanation on July 31, claiming that she had taken her housemaid's medication - marked as being HCTZ - after falling sick 48 hours prior to the positive test.

The unit had "major doubts about the reliability of the new version of events" and, in the framework of the sport's anti-doping rules, such "recklessness" is deemed "implied intention, for which an longer 48-month penalty is applicable".

An standard 12-month decrease was granted after Chepngetich admitted the anti-doping breaches 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, awards, titles, appearance and earnings from March 14 lost.

"Nobody is exempt from regulations."

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

"The road-running industry should be praised for jointly supporting anti-doping efforts capable of revealing substance abuses committed by top competitors in their races."