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Women's marathon world record-holder Ruth Chepngetich has been prohibited for 36 months after the Kenyan admitted to 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 masking agent - on 14 March.

The athlete's accomplishments which pre-date that test - including her global best performance of 2:09:56 in Chicago in 2024 - will remain valid.

The sports governing body had requested a four-year suspension but the runner's penalty was reduced to three years because she admitted to the infractions.

Nonetheless, the AIU will continue to investigate evidence from the athlete's phone which it found suggest "a reasonable suspicion that her failed test may have been deliberate" - featuring communications from as early as 2022.

"The case concerning the failed test for HCTZ has been resolved, but the unit will continue to investigate the suspicious material recovered from Chepngetich's device to ascertain if any further infractions have occurred."

'Nobody is above the rules'

When interviewed in the fourth month by the AIU, the marathoner, the initial female to complete a marathon in under 2:10, could not provide an reason for the failed test.

While HCTZ has a lowest detectable limit of 20 ng/mL in urine, the athlete's sample showed an estimated concentration of 3800 ng/mL.

Traces of the diuretic below the detection threshold were also found in a sample taken from the runner two weeks earlier, on 28 February.

At a later interview on 11 July, the record holder was shown the previously mentioned questionable proof obtained from her phone. Meanwhile, contamination had also been ruled out by the authority.

The athlete changed her explanation on 31 July, stating that she had taken her housemaid's pills - marked as being the banned substance - after falling sick two days before the failed test.

The unit had "serious reservations about the credibility of the revised account" and, in the framework of the athletics' anti-doping regulations, such "carelessness" is considered "implied intention, for which an longer 48-month penalty applies".

An automatic one-year reduction was applied after the runner admitted the anti-doping rule violations within the 20 days required.

The 36-month suspension commenced on April 19 - when Chepngetich agreed to a temporary ban - with the competitor's performances, awards, championships, participation and prize money from 14 March forfeited.

"Nobody is exempt from regulations."

"While unfortunate for those who put their trust in this athlete, this is how the process is supposed to work."

"The road-running industry should be commended for collectively funding doping prevention able to uncovering substance abuses committed by elite athletes in their events."