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Female long-distance global champion Ruth Chepngetich has been prohibited for 36 months after the Kenyan confessed to anti-doping rule violations.

Chepngetich was temporarily banned in the seventh month following a positive test for Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) - a banned diuretic used commonly as a masking agent - on 14 March.

The athlete's accomplishments which pre-date that test - such as her global best performance of 2:09:56 in Chicago in 2024 - will remain valid.

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

Nonetheless, the AIU will continue to investigate proof from the athlete's phone which it found indicate "strong grounds that her failed test may have been deliberate" - including communications from as early as the year 2022.

"The case concerning the failed test for HCTZ has been settled, but the AIU will continue to investigate the suspicious material recovered from the runner's device to determine if any other violations have occurred."

'Nobody is above the rules'

When interviewed in April by the integrity body, Chepngetich, the initial female to complete a marathon in under 2:10, could not provide an explanation for the positive test.

While the substance has a minimum reporting level of 20 nanograms per millilitre (ng/mL) in urine, Chepngetich's sample showed an approximate level of 3800 ng/mL.

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

At a subsequent meeting on 11 July, Chepngetich was shown the aforementioned questionable proof obtained from her mobile. Meanwhile, contamination had also been ruled out by the authority.

The athlete altered her story on 31 July, stating that she had used her housemaid's medication - labeled as being HCTZ - after becoming ill two days before the positive test.

The unit had "serious reservations about the credibility of the revised account" and, in the context of the athletics' doping regulations, such "recklessness" is deemed "implied intention, for which an longer 48-month sanction is applicable".

An standard 12-month decrease was applied after Chepngetich admitted the anti-doping breaches within the 20 days required.

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

"Nobody is exempt from regulations."

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

"Marathon organizers should be praised for jointly supporting anti-doping efforts capable of revealing doping violations performed by top competitors in their events."