Long-distance running Record Holder Ruth Chepngetich Given Three-Year Suspension

Women's marathon world record-holder Ruth Chepngetich has been prohibited for three years after the runner admitted to doping infractions.

The record holder was temporarily banned in the seventh month following a failed test for a banned substance - a prohibited substance often utilized as a masking agent - on 14 March.

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

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) had sought a four-year ban but the runner's penalty was reduced to three years because she confessed to the violations.

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

"This matter regarding the positive test for HCTZ has been settled, but the AIU will continue to investigate the questionable evidence found on Chepngetich's device to determine if any further infractions have occurred."

'Nobody is above the rules'

When interviewed in April by the integrity body, Chepngetich, the first woman to complete a marathon in under 2:10, could not provide an reason for the positive test.

Although HCTZ has a lowest detectable limit of 20 ng/mL in samples, Chepngetich'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 sample collected from the runner two weeks earlier, on February 28.

At a later interview on July 11, Chepngetich was shown the previously mentioned questionable proof obtained from her phone. In the meantime, contamination had also been ruled out by the AIU.

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

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

An automatic one-year reduction was granted after the runner admitted the doping rule violations inside the 20 days required.

The 36-month suspension commenced on April 19 - when Chepngetich accepted a voluntary provisional suspension - with the competitor's results, honors, titles, participation and prize money since 14 March forfeited.

"Nobody is exempt from regulations."

"Although disappointing for those who put their trust in this runner, this is how the process is supposed to work."

"Marathon organizers should be commended for jointly supporting doping prevention capable of uncovering doping violations committed by elite athletes in their events."