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Female long-distance world record-holder the athlete has been prohibited for 36 months after the Kenyan confessed to doping rule violations.

The record holder was provisionally suspended in July following a failed test for Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) - a banned diuretic used commonly as a masking agent - on March 14.

The athlete's achievements which occurred before that test - such as her world record performance of two hours, nine minutes and 56 seconds in Chicago in October 2024 - will still stand.

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

Nonetheless, the integrity unit will keep examining proof from the athlete's phone which it found indicate "a reasonable suspicion that her positive test may have been intentional" - including communications from as early as the year 2022.

"This matter regarding the failed test for the substance has been resolved, but the AIU will keep looking into the questionable evidence 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 integrity body, Chepngetich, the first woman to complete a marathon in less than 2 hours 10 minutes, was unable to give an reason for the positive test.

While HCTZ has a lowest detectable limit of 20 ng/mL in samples, Chepngetich's test showed an estimated concentration of 3,800 ng/mL.

Small amounts of HCTZ below the detection threshold were also found in a sample collected from the runner two weeks earlier, on February 28.

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

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

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

An automatic one-year reduction was applied after Chepngetich confessed to the doping breaches within the specified 20-day period.

The three-year ban commenced on April 19 - when Chepngetich accepted a voluntary provisional suspension - with the competitor's performances, awards, titles, appearance and earnings from 14 March lost.

"Nobody is exempt from regulations."

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

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