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Female long-distance world record-holder the athlete has been banned for three years after the Kenyan admitted to doping rule violations.

Chepngetich was provisionally suspended in the seventh month following a positive test for a banned substance - a banned diuretic used commonly as a concealing drug - on March 14.

Chepngetich's achievements which pre-date that sample - such as her world record performance of 2:09:56 in the Chicago event in October 2024 - will still stand.

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) had sought a four-year ban but the 31-year-old punishment was reduced to 36 months because she confessed to the infractions.

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

"This matter regarding the positive test for HCTZ has been settled, but the unit will continue to investigate the suspicious material found on the runner's device to determine if any other violations have taken place."

'No one is exempt from regulations'

When questioned in April by the AIU, the marathoner, the initial female to run a marathon in under 2:10, could not provide an explanation for the positive test.

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

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

At a subsequent meeting on July 11, Chepngetich was shown the previously mentioned suspicious evidence obtained from her phone. Meanwhile, contamination had also been disproven by the authority.

Chepngetich changed her explanation on 31 July, stating that she had used her domestic worker's pills - marked as being HCTZ - after becoming ill two days before the failed test.

The unit had "major doubts about the credibility of the revised account" and, in the context of the athletics' anti-doping regulations, such "carelessness" is deemed "indirect intent, for which an longer 48-month penalty applies".

An automatic one-year reduction was applied after the runner admitted the anti-doping breaches inside the 20 days required.

The 36-month suspension started on April 19 - when Chepngetich agreed to a voluntary provisional suspension - with the competitor's performances, honors, titles, participation and prize money from 14 March forfeited.

"Nobody is exempt from regulations."

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

"Marathon organizers should be praised for jointly supporting anti-doping efforts capable of revealing substance abuses performed by top competitors in their events."