Long-distance running Record Holder Chepngetich Receives Three-Year Suspension

Women's marathon global champion Ruth Chepngetich has been banned for 36 months after the Kenyan confessed to anti-doping rule violations.

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

The athlete's accomplishments which pre-date that sample - including her world record performance of 2:09:56 in Chicago in October 2024 - will still stand.

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) had sought a 48-month ban but the 31-year-old penalty was reduced to 36 months because she admitted to the violations.

Nonetheless, the AIU will keep examining evidence from Chepngetich's phone which it found suggest "a reasonable suspicion that her failed test may have been intentional" - featuring messages dating back to 2022.

"This matter concerning the failed test for the substance has been settled, but the AIU will continue to investigate the suspicious material recovered from Chepngetich's device to determine if any other violations have occurred."

'Nobody is above the rules'

When interviewed in the fourth month by the integrity body, the marathoner, the first woman to run a marathon in less than 2 hours 10 minutes, could not provide an explanation for the failed test.

While HCTZ has a minimum reporting level of 20 nanograms per millilitre (ng/mL) in urine, Chepngetich's test showed an approximate level of 3,800 ng/mL.

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

At a later interview on 11 July, Chepngetich was shown the previously mentioned suspicious evidence acquired from her mobile. Meanwhile, contamination had also been ruled out by the authority.

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

The unit had "serious reservations about the reliability of the new version of events" and, in the context of the athletics' doping rules, such "carelessness" is considered "indirect intent, for which an longer 48-month penalty applies".

An standard 12-month decrease was granted after the runner admitted the doping breaches within the specified 20-day period.

The 36-month suspension started on 19 April - when Chepngetich accepted a temporary ban - with the competitor's results, honors, championships, appearance and earnings since 14 March lost.

"Nobody is above the rules."

"Although disappointing for those who had faith in this runner, this is how the process is designed to operate."

"The road-running industry should be commended for jointly supporting anti-doping efforts able to uncovering substance abuses committed by top competitors in their races."