Long-distance running Record Holder Ruth Chepngetich Given Three-Year Suspension

Women's marathon world record-holder the athlete has been prohibited for three years after the runner confessed to doping infractions.

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 14 March.

The athlete's accomplishments which occurred before that test - including her global best time of two hours, nine minutes and 56 seconds in Chicago in 2024 - will remain valid.

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

Nonetheless, the AIU will continue to investigate evidence from Chepngetich's mobile device which it found suggest "a reasonable suspicion that her failed test may have been intentional" - including communications dating back to 2022.

"This matter concerning the failed test for HCTZ has been settled, but the AIU will continue to investigate the suspicious material found on the runner's phone to ascertain if any further infractions have taken place."

'Nobody is above the rules'

When interviewed in April by the AIU, Chepngetich, the first woman to run a marathon in under 2:10, could not provide an explanation for the positive test.

Although the substance has a lowest detectable limit of 20 ng/mL in samples, the athlete's sample showed an approximate level of 3,800 ng/mL.

Small amounts of the diuretic below the detection threshold were also found in a sample collected from Chepngetich 14 days prior, on February 28.

At a subsequent meeting on 11 July, the record holder was shown the previously mentioned suspicious evidence obtained from her phone. In the meantime, contamination had also been ruled out by the AIU.

Chepngetich changed her explanation on July 31, stating that she had used her housemaid's medication - marked as being the banned substance - after becoming ill two days before the failed test.

The unit had "serious reservations about the reliability of the new version of events" and, in the framework of the athletics' anti-doping regulations, such "recklessness" is considered "implied intention, for which an increased four-year sanction applies".

An standard 12-month decrease was applied after Chepngetich admitted the anti-doping rule violations within the 20 days required.

The three-year ban commenced on April 19 - when the athlete agreed to a temporary ban - with the runner's results, awards, championships, participation and prize money from 14 March forfeited.

"No one is exempt from regulations."

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

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