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Female long-distance global champion Ruth Chepngetich has been prohibited for 36 months after the runner admitted to anti-doping infractions.

The record holder was provisionally suspended in July following a positive test for a banned substance - a banned diuretic often utilized as a concealing drug - on 14 March.

The athlete's achievements which occurred before that test - such as her world record time of two hours, nine minutes and 56 seconds in Chicago in 2024 - will still stand.

The sports governing body had sought a 48-month ban but the runner's punishment was lowered to 36 months because she admitted to the infractions.

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

"The case concerning the failed test for HCTZ has been settled, but the AIU will continue to investigate the suspicious material found on the runner's phone to ascertain if any further infractions have taken place."

'Nobody is above the rules'

When interviewed in the fourth month by the AIU, the marathoner, the initial female to complete a marathon in less than 2 hours 10 minutes, was unable to give an reason for the positive test.

Although HCTZ has a lowest detectable limit of 20 ng/mL in samples, the athlete's test showed an approximate level of 3800 ng/mL.

Small amounts of HCTZ under the minimal reporting level were also identified in a test taken from the runner two weeks earlier, on February 28.

At a subsequent meeting on July 11, the record holder was presented with the previously mentioned suspicious evidence acquired from her mobile. In the meantime, accidental exposure had also been ruled out by the authority.

The athlete changed her explanation on 31 July, claiming that she had taken her domestic worker's pills - marked as being HCTZ - after becoming ill 48 hours prior to the positive test.

The unit had "major doubts about the credibility of the new version of events" and, in the context of the athletics' doping regulations, such "carelessness" is considered "indirect intent, for which an increased four-year sanction is applicable".

An automatic one-year reduction was applied after the runner confessed to the anti-doping rule violations inside the 20 days required.

The three-year ban started on April 19 - when Chepngetich agreed to a temporary ban - with the runner's results, awards, titles, appearance and prize money since March 14 lost.

"Nobody is above the rules."

"While unfortunate for those who had faith in this runner, this is how the process is designed to operate."

"Marathon organizers should be commended for collectively funding anti-doping efforts capable of revealing doping violations performed by top competitors in their events."