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Women's marathon global champion Ruth Chepngetich has been suspended for 36 months after the runner acknowledged anti-doping rule violations.

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

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

The sports governing body had sought a four-year ban but the runner's punishment 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 indicate "a reasonable suspicion that her failed test may have been intentional" - including messages from as early as 2022.

"This matter concerning the positive test for the substance has been settled, but the unit will keep looking into the questionable evidence found on the runner's device to determine if any other violations have occurred."

'Nobody is above the rules'

When questioned in April by the integrity body, the marathoner, the first woman to run a marathon in under 2:10, was unable to give an explanation for the failed test.

Although HCTZ has a minimum reporting level of 20 ng/mL in samples, Chepngetich's test showed an approximate level of 3,800 ng/mL.

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

At a subsequent meeting on 11 July, the record holder was shown the previously mentioned questionable proof obtained from her phone. In the meantime, accidental exposure had also been disproven by the AIU.

The athlete altered her story on July 31, claiming that she had taken her housemaid's medication - labeled as being HCTZ - after falling sick 48 hours prior to 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 "indirect intent, for which an longer 48-month sanction applies".

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

The 36-month suspension commenced on 19 April - when Chepngetich accepted a temporary ban - with the runner's results, awards, championships, appearance and prize money from 14 March forfeited.

"No one is exempt from regulations."

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

"The road-running industry should be commended for jointly supporting doping prevention capable of uncovering substance abuses performed by elite athletes in their events."