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Female long-distance global champion Ruth Chepngetich has been banned for 36 months after the runner confessed to doping rule violations.

Chepngetich was provisionally suspended in the seventh month following a failed test for Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) - a banned diuretic often utilized as a concealing drug - on 14 March.

Chepngetich's accomplishments which pre-date that test - such as her global best performance of 2:09:56 in Chicago in October 2024 - will still stand.

The sports governing body had sought a four-year ban but the 31-year-old penalty was lowered to 36 months because she confessed to the violations.

Nonetheless, the integrity unit will keep examining proof from the athlete's mobile device which it found indicate "a reasonable suspicion that her failed test may have been deliberate" - featuring messages dating back to the year 2022.

"The case concerning the positive test for the substance has been settled, but the unit will continue to investigate the questionable evidence recovered from Chepngetich's device to ascertain if any other violations have occurred."

'Nobody is above the rules'

When questioned in the fourth month by the AIU, Chepngetich, the initial female to complete a marathon in less than 2 hours 10 minutes, could not provide an reason for the positive test.

Although the substance has a minimum reporting level of 20 nanograms per millilitre (ng/mL) in urine, the athlete's test showed an approximate level of 3800 ng/mL.

Small amounts of the diuretic below the detection threshold were also found in a test collected from Chepngetich 14 days prior, on 28 February.

At a later interview on July 11, Chepngetich was shown the aforementioned suspicious evidence acquired from her phone. In the meantime, accidental exposure had also been disproven by the AIU.

Chepngetich altered her story on July 31, claiming that she had used her domestic worker's medication - marked as being HCTZ - after falling sick two days before the failed test.

The AIU had "major doubts about the credibility of the revised account" and, in the context of the athletics' doping regulations, such "carelessness" is considered "indirect intent, for which an increased four-year sanction is applicable".

An standard 12-month decrease was granted after the runner confessed to the doping rule violations within the 20 days required.

The 36-month suspension started on April 19 - when the athlete accepted a voluntary provisional suspension - with the runner's performances, awards, titles, appearance and earnings from 14 March forfeited.

"Nobody is exempt from regulations."

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

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