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Women's marathon global champion the athlete has been suspended for three years after the Kenyan confessed to doping rule violations.

Chepngetich was temporarily banned in July following a failed test for Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) - a banned diuretic used commonly as a masking agent - on 14 March.

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

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) had requested a four-year ban but the runner's penalty was reduced to three years because she confessed to the infractions.

However, the AIU will keep examining evidence from Chepngetich's mobile device which it found indicate "a reasonable suspicion that her failed test may have been deliberate" - including communications dating back to 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 Chepngetich's phone to determine if any other violations have occurred."

'No one is exempt from regulations'

When questioned in April by the AIU, the marathoner, the initial female to run a marathon in less than 2 hours 10 minutes, was unable to give an explanation for the positive test.

While HCTZ has a lowest detectable limit of 20 nanograms per millilitre (ng/mL) in urine, the athlete's test showed an estimated concentration of 3,800 ng/mL.

Small amounts of the diuretic below the minimal reporting level were also identified in a sample collected from Chepngetich two weeks earlier, on 28 February.

At a later interview on July 11, Chepngetich was presented with the aforementioned questionable proof acquired from her phone. In the meantime, contamination had also been ruled out by the AIU.

The athlete altered her story on July 31, stating that she had taken her domestic worker's medication - marked as being the banned substance - after falling sick two days before the failed test.

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

An automatic one-year reduction was granted after the runner admitted the anti-doping breaches inside the specified 20-day period.

The three-year ban started on April 19 - when Chepngetich agreed to a voluntary provisional suspension - with the competitor's results, honors, championships, participation and prize money since 14 March forfeited.

"Nobody is above the rules."

"While disappointing 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 doping prevention able to uncovering doping violations committed by top competitors in their races."