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Women's marathon global champion Ruth Chepngetich has been prohibited for three years after the runner admitted to anti-doping rule violations.

The record holder was provisionally suspended in the seventh month following a failed test for Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) - a banned diuretic often utilized as a masking agent - on 14 March.

The athlete's accomplishments which occurred before that sample - including her world record time of two hours, nine minutes and 56 seconds in the Chicago event in 2024 - will remain valid.

The sports governing body had sought a four-year suspension but the 31-year-old penalty was lowered to three years because she admitted to the violations.

However, the AIU will continue to investigate evidence from Chepngetich's mobile device which it found indicate "strong grounds that her failed test may have been intentional" - featuring communications dating back to 2022.

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

'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, was unable to give an explanation for the positive test.

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

Small amounts of HCTZ under the minimal reporting level were also found in a test collected from Chepngetich two weeks earlier, on February 28.

At a subsequent meeting on 11 July, the record holder was presented with the previously mentioned questionable proof acquired from her mobile. In the meantime, contamination had also been disproven by the authority.

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

The AIU had "serious reservations about the reliability of the new version of events" and, in the context of the athletics' anti-doping rules, such "recklessness" is considered "indirect intent, for which an increased four-year penalty applies".

An standard 12-month decrease was applied after Chepngetich confessed to the doping rule violations inside the 20 days required.

The three-year ban commenced on April 19 - when Chepngetich accepted a temporary ban - with the runner's results, honors, championships, appearance and prize money since March 14 forfeited.

"No one is above the rules."

"While unfortunate for those who had faith in this runner, this is how the system is supposed to work."

"Marathon organizers should be commended for jointly supporting anti-doping efforts able to uncovering substance abuses committed by top competitors in their races."