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Female long-distance global champion Ruth Chepngetich has been prohibited for 36 months after the Kenyan admitted to anti-doping infractions.

The record holder was provisionally suspended in July following a positive test for a banned substance - a banned diuretic often utilized as a concealing drug - on March 14.

Chepngetich's accomplishments which pre-date that sample - including her global best time of 2:09:56 in the Chicago event in 2024 - will still stand.

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) had sought a 48-month suspension but the 31-year-old penalty was lowered to 36 months because she confessed to the infractions.

However, the integrity unit will continue to investigate proof from the athlete's phone which it found suggest "strong grounds that her positive test may have been deliberate" - featuring messages from as early as the year 2022.

"This matter concerning the failed test for HCTZ has been settled, but the unit will continue to investigate the suspicious material found on the runner's phone to determine if any other violations have occurred."

'No one is exempt from regulations'

When interviewed in April by the AIU, Chepngetich, the first woman to complete a marathon in under 2:10, was unable to give an reason for the positive test.

Although HCTZ has a lowest detectable limit of 20 nanograms per millilitre (ng/mL) in samples, the athlete's test showed an estimated concentration of 3,800 ng/mL.

Traces of the diuretic under the minimal reporting level were also found in a sample taken from the runner two weeks earlier, on February 28.

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

The athlete changed her explanation on 31 July, claiming that she had taken her domestic worker's pills - labeled as being the banned substance - after becoming ill 48 hours prior to the positive test.

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

An standard 12-month decrease was granted after Chepngetich admitted the doping breaches inside the 20 days required.

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

"No one is exempt from regulations."

"Although disappointing for those who had faith in this athlete, this is how the system is supposed to work."

"The road-running industry should be praised for collectively funding anti-doping efforts capable of revealing doping violations performed by elite athletes in their races."