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Women's marathon global champion the athlete has been prohibited for 36 months after the runner confessed to anti-doping rule violations.

Chepngetich was temporarily banned in July following a positive test for Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) - a prohibited substance used commonly as a concealing drug - on 14 March.

Chepngetich's achievements which occurred before that sample - such as her world record time of two hours, nine minutes and 56 seconds in Chicago in October 2024 - will remain valid.

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) had requested a four-year suspension but the 31-year-old penalty was reduced to 36 months because she confessed to the violations.

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

"This matter regarding the positive test for HCTZ has been resolved, but the unit will keep looking into the suspicious material found on the runner's device to ascertain if any other violations 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, was unable to give an reason for the failed test.

Although HCTZ has a lowest detectable limit of 20 nanograms per millilitre (ng/mL) in urine, the athlete's sample showed an approximate level of 3,800 ng/mL.

Small amounts of the diuretic under the detection threshold were also found in a test collected from Chepngetich two weeks earlier, on 28 February.

At a subsequent meeting on 11 July, Chepngetich was presented with the previously mentioned suspicious evidence obtained from her phone. In the meantime, accidental exposure had also been disproven by the authority.

Chepngetich changed her explanation on July 31, stating that she had taken her housemaid's pills - labeled as being HCTZ - after falling sick 48 hours prior to the failed test.

The unit had "serious reservations about the credibility of the revised account" and, in the context of the athletics' doping regulations, such "recklessness" is deemed "implied intention, for which an longer 48-month sanction is applicable".

An standard 12-month decrease was applied after the runner admitted the anti-doping rule violations inside the specified 20-day period.

The 36-month suspension started on 19 April - when the athlete accepted a temporary ban - with the competitor's results, honors, titles, participation and prize money since March 14 forfeited.

"No one is above the rules."

"While unfortunate for those who put their trust in this runner, this is how the system is designed to operate."

"Marathon organizers should be praised for collectively funding doping prevention able to revealing doping violations committed by elite athletes in their races."