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Female long-distance world record-holder Ruth Chepngetich has been banned for 36 months after the Kenyan admitted to doping infractions.

Chepngetich was provisionally suspended in July following a failed test for a banned substance - a banned diuretic often utilized as a masking agent - on 14 March.

The athlete's accomplishments which pre-date that sample - including her world record performance of two hours, nine minutes and 56 seconds in Chicago in 2024 - will remain valid.

The sports governing body had requested a 48-month suspension 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 intentional" - featuring messages dating back to 2022.

"The case regarding the positive test for the substance has been settled, but the unit will continue to investigate the suspicious material found on Chepngetich's phone to determine if any other violations have occurred."

'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 failed test.

Although the substance has a lowest detectable limit of 20 ng/mL in samples, Chepngetich's sample showed an estimated concentration of 3800 ng/mL.

Small amounts of HCTZ below the detection threshold were also identified in a test collected from the runner two weeks earlier, on 28 February.

At a subsequent meeting on July 11, the record holder was presented with the aforementioned questionable proof acquired from her phone. Meanwhile, contamination had also been disproven by the AIU.

The athlete changed her explanation on 31 July, stating that she had taken her housemaid's medication - marked as being the banned substance - after falling sick two days before the failed test.

The AIU had "major doubts about the credibility of the new version of events" and, in the framework of the sport's anti-doping regulations, such "recklessness" is deemed "implied intention, for which an longer 48-month penalty applies".

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

The 36-month suspension started on 19 April - when Chepngetich agreed to a voluntary provisional suspension - with the runner's results, awards, championships, appearance and prize money from March 14 lost.

"Nobody is exempt from regulations."

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

"The road-running industry should be praised for collectively funding anti-doping efforts able to revealing doping violations committed by elite athletes in their races."