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Female long-distance world record-holder Ruth Chepngetich has been banned for 36 months after the runner confessed to anti-doping infractions.

The record holder was temporarily banned in July following a failed test for a banned substance - a banned diuretic used commonly as a concealing drug - on March 14.

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

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) had sought a four-year ban but the 31-year-old penalty was reduced to three years because she admitted to the violations.

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

"This matter regarding the positive test for HCTZ has been settled, but the AIU will continue to investigate the suspicious material found on Chepngetich's phone to ascertain if any other violations have occurred."

'No one is exempt from regulations'

When interviewed in the fourth month by the AIU, Chepngetich, the initial female to complete a marathon in under 2:10, could not provide an reason for the failed test.

Although the substance has a lowest detectable limit of 20 ng/mL in samples, Chepngetich's test showed an estimated concentration of 3800 ng/mL.

Traces of HCTZ under the detection threshold were also found in a sample collected from the runner two weeks earlier, on February 28.

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

Chepngetich altered her story on 31 July, stating that she had used her domestic worker's pills - marked as being HCTZ - after falling sick 48 hours prior to the failed test.

The unit had "major doubts about the reliability of the revised account" and, in the framework of the sport's doping rules, such "recklessness" is deemed "implied intention, for which an longer 48-month sanction is applicable".

An automatic one-year reduction was applied after the runner confessed to the doping rule violations inside the specified 20-day period.

The three-year ban started on 19 April - when the athlete agreed to a voluntary provisional suspension - with the runner's performances, honors, championships, appearance and prize money since March 14 lost.

"No one is above the rules."

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

"Marathon organizers should be praised for jointly supporting doping prevention able to revealing substance abuses performed by elite athletes in their races."