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Female long-distance world record-holder Ruth Chepngetich has been suspended for three years after the runner confessed to anti-doping rule violations.

The record holder was provisionally suspended in the seventh month following a positive test for a banned substance - a prohibited substance used commonly as a masking agent - on March 14.

The athlete's achievements which occurred before that test - such as her global best time of two hours, nine minutes and 56 seconds in Chicago in October 2024 - will remain valid.

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) had requested a 48-month ban but the runner's penalty was lowered to 36 months because she admitted to the violations.

However, the integrity unit will keep examining proof from the athlete's phone which it found suggest "strong grounds that her failed test may have been deliberate" - including communications from as early as 2022.

"This matter concerning the failed test for the substance has been resolved, but the AIU will continue to investigate the suspicious material recovered from the runner's phone to ascertain if any further infractions have taken place."

'No one is exempt from regulations'

When questioned in the fourth month by the AIU, Chepngetich, the initial female to complete a marathon in under 2:10, could not provide an reason for the failed test.

Although the substance has a lowest detectable limit of 20 ng/mL in urine, Chepngetich's sample showed an approximate level of 3800 ng/mL.

Small amounts of HCTZ below the minimal reporting level were also identified in a sample collected from Chepngetich two weeks earlier, on 28 February.

At a later interview on 11 July, the record holder was presented with the aforementioned suspicious evidence obtained from her mobile. In the meantime, accidental exposure had also been ruled out by the AIU.

Chepngetich altered her story on 31 July, claiming that she had taken her housemaid's pills - marked as being the banned substance - after becoming ill 48 hours prior to the positive test.

The unit had "major doubts about the reliability of the new version of events" and, in the framework of the athletics' doping regulations, such "recklessness" is deemed "indirect intent, for which an longer 48-month sanction applies".

An standard 12-month decrease was granted after Chepngetich admitted the doping rule violations inside the specified 20-day period.

The 36-month suspension commenced on 19 April - when Chepngetich agreed to a temporary ban - with the runner's performances, awards, titles, participation and prize money from March 14 lost.

"No one is exempt from regulations."

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

"The road-running industry should be commended for jointly supporting anti-doping efforts capable of uncovering substance abuses performed by elite athletes in their events."