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Women's marathon global champion Ruth Chepngetich has been prohibited for 36 months after the Kenyan admitted to anti-doping rule violations.

The record holder was temporarily banned in July following a positive test for Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) - a prohibited substance often utilized as a concealing drug - on March 14.

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

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) had sought a 48-month suspension but the runner's penalty was reduced to three years because she admitted to the violations.

Nonetheless, the integrity unit will continue to investigate proof from Chepngetich's mobile device which it found suggest "strong grounds that her failed test may have been deliberate" - featuring communications from as early as 2022.

"This matter concerning the failed test for the substance has been resolved, but the AIU will keep looking into the suspicious material found on Chepngetich's phone to ascertain if any other violations have taken place."

'No one is exempt from regulations'

When interviewed in April by the AIU, Chepngetich, the initial female to run a marathon in under 2:10, was unable to give an reason for the positive test.

While the substance has a minimum reporting level of 20 nanograms per millilitre (ng/mL) in samples, the athlete's test showed an approximate level of 3,800 ng/mL.

Small amounts of the diuretic below the detection threshold were also identified in a test taken from Chepngetich two weeks earlier, on February 28.

At a subsequent meeting on 11 July, the record holder was shown the aforementioned suspicious evidence acquired from her mobile. In the meantime, accidental exposure had also been disproven by the AIU.

Chepngetich altered her story on 31 July, claiming that she had taken her housemaid's medication - marked as being HCTZ - after falling sick 48 hours prior to the positive test.

The AIU had "major doubts about the credibility of the new version of events" and, in the framework of the sport's doping rules, such "recklessness" is deemed "indirect intent, for which an increased four-year penalty applies".

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

The three-year ban started on 19 April - when Chepngetich agreed to a voluntary provisional suspension - with the competitor's performances, awards, championships, participation and earnings from 14 March lost.

"Nobody is above the rules."

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

"The road-running industry should be praised for jointly supporting doping prevention able to revealing substance abuses committed by elite athletes in their races."