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Female long-distance global champion the athlete has been suspended for 36 months after the Kenyan admitted to anti-doping rule violations.

The record holder was temporarily banned in the seventh month following a failed test for a banned substance - a banned diuretic used commonly as a masking agent - on March 14.

The athlete's accomplishments which occurred before that test - such as her global best time of 2:09:56 in Chicago in October 2024 - will remain valid.

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

However, the integrity unit will keep examining proof from Chepngetich's mobile device which it found suggest "strong grounds that her failed test may have been intentional" - including messages from as early as the year 2022.

"The case concerning the failed test for the substance has been resolved, but the AIU will keep looking into the questionable evidence found on Chepngetich's device to determine if any other violations have taken place."

'No one is exempt from regulations'

When interviewed in the fourth month by the AIU, Chepngetich, the first woman to complete a marathon in under 2:10, could not provide an explanation for the positive test.

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

Traces of the diuretic under the minimal reporting level were also identified in a test taken from Chepngetich two weeks earlier, on 28 February.

At a subsequent meeting on 11 July, Chepngetich was shown the aforementioned suspicious evidence acquired from her phone. In the meantime, accidental exposure had also been ruled out by the authority.

The athlete changed her explanation on July 31, stating that she had used her housemaid's medication - labeled as being HCTZ - after becoming ill two days before the positive test.

The AIU had "serious reservations about the credibility of the new version of events" and, in the context of the athletics' doping regulations, such "carelessness" is considered "implied intention, for which an increased four-year sanction applies".

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

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

"Nobody is exempt from regulations."

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

"The road-running industry should be praised for jointly supporting anti-doping efforts capable of uncovering substance abuses performed by top competitors in their races."