Marathon Champion Ruth Chepngetich Handed 36-month Ban

Women's marathon global champion the athlete has been suspended for three years after the runner acknowledged anti-doping rule violations.

Chepngetich was temporarily banned in the seventh month following a failed test for Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) - a banned diuretic often utilized as a masking agent - on 14 March.

Chepngetich's accomplishments which occurred before that test - including her global best time of two hours, nine minutes and 56 seconds in the Chicago event in 2024 - will still stand.

The sports governing body had requested a four-year ban but the 31-year-old penalty was lowered to three years because she admitted to the infractions.

However, the integrity unit will keep examining evidence from Chepngetich's mobile device 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 regarding the failed test for the substance has been resolved, but the AIU will keep looking into the suspicious material found on Chepngetich's phone to ascertain if any other violations have occurred."

'No one is exempt from regulations'

When questioned in April by the AIU, Chepngetich, the initial female to complete 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 urine, the athlete's sample showed an approximate level of 3,800 ng/mL.

Traces of HCTZ below the minimal reporting level were also found in a test taken from Chepngetich 14 days prior, on 28 February.

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

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

The AIU had "serious reservations about the credibility of the revised account" and, in the context of the athletics' doping regulations, such "recklessness" is considered "indirect intent, for which an increased four-year penalty is applicable".

An automatic one-year reduction was applied after Chepngetich confessed to the anti-doping breaches inside the 20 days required.

The 36-month suspension commenced on April 19 - when the athlete agreed to a voluntary provisional suspension - with the competitor's results, honors, championships, appearance and earnings from 14 March lost.

"No one is above the rules."

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

"Marathon organizers should be praised for jointly supporting anti-doping efforts capable of uncovering substance abuses performed by elite athletes in their races."