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Female long-distance global champion Ruth Chepngetich has been prohibited for 36 months after the runner confessed to anti-doping infractions.

Chepngetich was provisionally suspended in July following a positive test for a banned substance - a banned diuretic often utilized as a concealing drug - on March 14.

Chepngetich's accomplishments which occurred before that test - including her world record time of 2:09:56 in Chicago in October 2024 - will still stand.

The sports governing body had requested a 48-month ban but the 31-year-old punishment was lowered to three years because she confessed to the infractions.

Nonetheless, the integrity unit will keep examining evidence from Chepngetich's mobile device which it found indicate "strong grounds that her failed test may have been deliberate" - including communications dating back to the year 2022.

"The case regarding the failed test for HCTZ has been settled, but the unit will keep looking into the questionable evidence recovered from Chepngetich's device to determine if any other violations have taken place."

'Nobody is above the rules'

When questioned in the fourth month by the integrity body, the marathoner, the initial female to complete a marathon in under 2:10, was unable to give an reason for the positive test.

Although HCTZ has a lowest detectable limit of 20 nanograms per millilitre (ng/mL) in samples, Chepngetich's sample showed an approximate level of 3,800 ng/mL.

Traces of HCTZ under the minimal reporting level were also found in a sample collected from Chepngetich two weeks earlier, on 28 February.

At a later interview on 11 July, Chepngetich was presented with the aforementioned questionable proof obtained from her mobile. In the meantime, accidental exposure had also been disproven by the AIU.

Chepngetich altered her story on 31 July, 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 revised account" and, in the context of the sport's anti-doping regulations, such "carelessness" is considered "indirect intent, for which an increased four-year penalty applies".

An standard 12-month decrease was applied after Chepngetich confessed to the doping breaches inside the specified 20-day period.

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

"Nobody is above the rules."

"Although unfortunate for those who put their trust in this athlete, this is how the system is supposed to work."

"Marathon organizers should be commended for jointly supporting anti-doping efforts able to uncovering doping violations performed by elite athletes in their events."