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Women's marathon global champion Ruth Chepngetich has been prohibited for 36 months after the runner admitted to doping rule violations.

The record holder was provisionally suspended in the seventh month following a failed test for a banned substance - a prohibited substance often utilized as a concealing drug - on 14 March.

The athlete's accomplishments which occurred before that test - such as her world record time of 2:09:56 in the Chicago event in October 2024 - will still stand.

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) had sought a four-year suspension but the runner's penalty was lowered to 36 months because she admitted to the infractions.

However, the AIU will keep examining proof from Chepngetich's phone which it found indicate "strong grounds that her positive test may have been deliberate" - including messages dating back to 2022.

"The case concerning the positive test for HCTZ has been resolved, but the AIU will continue to investigate the questionable evidence recovered from the runner's device to determine if any further infractions have occurred."

'Nobody is above the rules'

When questioned in the fourth month by the AIU, Chepngetich, the first woman to run a marathon in less than 2 hours 10 minutes, could not provide an reason for the failed test.

While the substance has a lowest detectable limit of 20 nanograms per millilitre (ng/mL) in urine, Chepngetich's sample showed an approximate level of 3800 ng/mL.

Small amounts of HCTZ under the detection threshold were also identified in a test taken from Chepngetich two weeks earlier, on 28 February.

At a subsequent meeting on 11 July, the record holder was shown the aforementioned suspicious evidence obtained from her phone. Meanwhile, contamination had also been ruled out by the authority.

Chepngetich changed her explanation on July 31, claiming that she had taken her housemaid's pills - marked as being the banned substance - after becoming ill two days before the positive test.

The unit had "major doubts about the credibility of the revised account" and, in the context of the sport's doping rules, such "recklessness" is deemed "implied intention, for which an increased four-year sanction applies".

An standard 12-month decrease was granted after Chepngetich confessed to the doping breaches within the 20 days required.

The 36-month suspension started on 19 April - when the athlete accepted a voluntary provisional suspension - with the competitor's performances, awards, titles, appearance and earnings from 14 March forfeited.

"Nobody is above the rules."

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

"Marathon organizers should be commended for jointly supporting doping prevention capable of revealing substance abuses performed by top competitors in their races."