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

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

Chepngetich's accomplishments which pre-date that test - such as her world record time of two hours, nine minutes and 56 seconds in the Chicago event in October 2024 - will remain valid.

The sports governing body had requested a 48-month suspension but the 31-year-old punishment was reduced to three years because she admitted to the violations.

Nonetheless, the AIU will keep examining proof from Chepngetich's phone which it found suggest "a reasonable suspicion that her failed test may have been deliberate" - featuring communications from as early as the year 2022.

"The case concerning the failed test for the substance has been settled, but the AIU will continue to investigate the suspicious material recovered from the runner's phone to determine if any further infractions have taken place."

'Nobody is above the rules'

When questioned in the fourth month by the integrity body, Chepngetich, the first woman to run a marathon in under 2:10, was unable to give an explanation for the failed test.

While the substance has a minimum reporting level of 20 ng/mL in urine, Chepngetich's test showed an approximate level of 3,800 ng/mL.

Small amounts of HCTZ below the detection threshold were also identified in a sample collected from the runner two weeks earlier, on February 28.

At a subsequent meeting on July 11, the record holder was shown the aforementioned questionable proof acquired from her phone. Meanwhile, accidental exposure had also been ruled out by the AIU.

The athlete altered her story on 31 July, stating that she had taken her domestic worker's medication - marked as being HCTZ - after becoming ill two days before the failed test.

The unit had "major doubts about the reliability of the new version of events" and, in the framework of the athletics' doping rules, such "carelessness" is considered "implied intention, for which an increased four-year penalty is applicable".

An standard 12-month decrease was applied after the runner confessed to the doping rule violations within the 20 days required.

The 36-month suspension started on April 19 - when the athlete agreed to a voluntary provisional suspension - with the competitor's results, awards, titles, participation and earnings from March 14 lost.

"No one is exempt from regulations."

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

"The road-running industry should be praised for jointly supporting anti-doping efforts capable of uncovering substance abuses performed by elite athletes in their events."