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Women's marathon world record-holder Ruth Chepngetich has been suspended for three years after the Kenyan admitted to anti-doping rule violations.

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

The athlete's accomplishments which pre-date that test - including her world record performance 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 ban but the runner's penalty was reduced to 36 months because she admitted to the violations.

However, the integrity unit will keep examining evidence from the athlete's phone which it found suggest "a reasonable suspicion that her positive test may have been deliberate" - including messages from as early as 2022.

"The case regarding the positive test for HCTZ has been settled, but the unit will keep looking into the suspicious material recovered from the runner's phone to determine if any further infractions have occurred."

'No one is exempt from regulations'

When interviewed in the fourth month by the integrity body, Chepngetich, the initial female to run a marathon in less than 2 hours 10 minutes, could not provide an explanation for the positive test.

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

Small amounts of HCTZ below the minimal reporting level were also found in a test taken from the runner 14 days prior, on 28 February.

At a later interview on July 11, the record holder was shown the aforementioned questionable proof obtained from her mobile. Meanwhile, contamination had also been disproven by the authority.

The athlete changed her explanation on 31 July, claiming that she had used her domestic worker's medication - marked as being the banned substance - after falling sick two days before the failed test.

The unit had "serious reservations about the credibility of the revised account" and, in the context of the sport's doping regulations, such "recklessness" is considered "indirect intent, for which an increased four-year penalty applies".

An standard 12-month decrease was applied after the runner confessed to the doping breaches within the 20 days required.

The 36-month suspension commenced on 19 April - when the athlete accepted a temporary ban - with the competitor's performances, honors, titles, appearance and earnings since March 14 forfeited.

"No one is exempt from regulations."

"Although unfortunate for those who put their trust in this athlete, this is how the process is designed to operate."

"The road-running industry should be commended for collectively funding doping prevention capable of uncovering substance abuses committed by elite athletes in their events."