Long-distance running Record Holder Ruth Chepngetich Handed Three-Year Ban

Female long-distance world record-holder the athlete has been suspended for 36 months after the Kenyan admitted to doping rule violations.

The record holder was temporarily banned 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 achievements which occurred before that sample - such as her global best performance of two hours, nine minutes and 56 seconds in the Chicago event in 2024 - will remain valid.

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) had sought a 48-month ban but the 31-year-old penalty was reduced to 36 months because she admitted to the violations.

Nonetheless, the integrity unit will continue to investigate evidence from Chepngetich's phone which it found indicate "a reasonable suspicion that her positive test may have been intentional" - featuring messages from as early as the year 2022.

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

'No one is exempt from regulations'

When questioned in the fourth month by the AIU, the marathoner, the initial female to complete a marathon in under 2:10, was unable to give an reason for the failed test.

While HCTZ has a minimum reporting level 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 under the minimal reporting level were also identified in a sample taken from the runner two weeks earlier, on 28 February.

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

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

The unit had "serious reservations about the credibility of the new version of events" and, in the framework of the athletics' doping regulations, such "carelessness" is considered "implied intention, for which an increased four-year penalty is applicable".

An automatic one-year reduction was granted after Chepngetich confessed to the doping breaches within the specified 20-day period.

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

"No one is above the rules."

"While disappointing for those who put their trust in this athlete, this is how the system is supposed to work."

"Marathon organizers should be praised for collectively funding doping prevention able to uncovering substance abuses performed by elite athletes in their races."