Long-distance running Champion Chepngetich Handed 36-month Ban

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

The record holder was temporarily banned in the seventh month following a failed test for Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) - a banned diuretic often utilized as a concealing drug - on March 14.

Chepngetich's achievements which pre-date that test - including her world record time of 2:09:56 in Chicago in October 2024 - will remain valid.

The sports governing body had requested a four-year ban but the 31-year-old punishment was lowered to 36 months because she admitted to the infractions.

However, the integrity unit will continue to investigate proof from Chepngetich's phone which it found indicate "a reasonable suspicion that her failed test may have been deliberate" - featuring communications from as early as 2022.

"The case concerning the positive test for the substance has been settled, but the unit will keep looking into the suspicious material found on the runner's phone to ascertain if any further infractions have occurred."

'Nobody is above the rules'

When interviewed in April by the AIU, Chepngetich, the initial female to complete a marathon in under 2:10, was unable to give an explanation for the positive test.

While the substance has a minimum reporting level of 20 nanograms per millilitre (ng/mL) in urine, the athlete's sample showed an estimated concentration of 3,800 ng/mL.

Small amounts of the diuretic under the minimal reporting level were also identified in a sample taken from the runner two weeks earlier, on 28 February.

At a later interview on July 11, the record holder was shown the previously mentioned suspicious evidence acquired from her phone. In the meantime, contamination had also been ruled out by the authority.

The athlete altered her story on July 31, stating that she had taken her domestic worker's medication - labeled as being HCTZ - after falling sick two days before the positive 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 "indirect intent, for which an increased four-year sanction is applicable".

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

The three-year ban commenced on April 19 - when the athlete accepted a temporary ban - with the competitor's results, awards, titles, appearance and prize money from March 14 forfeited.

"No one is exempt from regulations."

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

"The road-running industry should be praised for collectively funding doping prevention able to revealing doping violations committed by top competitors in their events."