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Female long-distance world record-holder Ruth Chepngetich has been banned for three years after the Kenyan confessed to anti-doping rule violations.

The record holder was provisionally suspended in the seventh month following a positive test for Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) - a prohibited substance used commonly as a masking agent - on 14 March.

Chepngetich's accomplishments which pre-date that test - such as her global best performance of 2:09:56 in the Chicago event in October 2024 - will remain valid.

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) had sought a 48-month suspension but the runner's punishment was lowered to three years because she confessed to the violations.

Nonetheless, the AIU will continue to investigate evidence from the athlete's mobile device which it found indicate "a reasonable suspicion that her failed test may have been intentional" - including messages from as early as the year 2022.

"The case regarding the failed test for the substance has been resolved, but the AIU will keep looking into the questionable evidence found on Chepngetich's phone to ascertain if any further infractions have occurred."

'Nobody is above the rules'

When interviewed in April by the integrity body, the marathoner, the first woman to complete a marathon in under 2:10, was unable to give an reason for the failed test.

Although the substance has a lowest detectable limit of 20 ng/mL in samples, the athlete's test showed an approximate level of 3800 ng/mL.

Traces of the diuretic below the minimal reporting level were also found in a test collected from the runner two weeks earlier, on 28 February.

At a later interview on 11 July, Chepngetich was presented with the aforementioned suspicious evidence obtained from her phone. Meanwhile, accidental exposure had also been ruled out by the authority.

Chepngetich altered her story on 31 July, claiming that she had taken her domestic worker's pills - marked as being the banned substance - after becoming ill 48 hours prior to the positive test.

The unit had "serious reservations about the credibility of the revised account" and, in the context of the athletics' 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 doping breaches within the specified 20-day period.

The three-year ban started on 19 April - when Chepngetich agreed to a voluntary provisional suspension - with the competitor's results, honors, championships, appearance and prize money from 14 March lost.

"Nobody is above the rules."

"While unfortunate for those who put their trust in this runner, this is how the process is designed to operate."

"The road-running industry should be commended for jointly supporting anti-doping efforts capable of uncovering doping violations performed by top competitors in their events."