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

The record holder was temporarily banned in July following a positive test for a banned substance - a prohibited substance often utilized as a masking agent - on March 14.

The athlete's accomplishments which occurred before that sample - including her global best performance of two hours, nine minutes and 56 seconds in the Chicago event in 2024 - will still stand.

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) had requested a four-year ban but the runner's penalty was lowered to 36 months because she confessed to the infractions.

Nonetheless, the integrity unit will keep examining proof from Chepngetich's phone which it found indicate "strong grounds that her failed test may have been intentional" - including messages dating back to 2022.

"The case concerning the failed test for the substance has been resolved, but the AIU will keep looking into the suspicious material found on the runner's phone to determine if any further infractions have occurred."

'No one is exempt from regulations'

When interviewed in April by the integrity body, 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.

While HCTZ has a lowest detectable limit of 20 ng/mL in samples, the athlete's sample showed an estimated concentration of 3800 ng/mL.

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

At a later interview on July 11, Chepngetich was presented with the aforementioned questionable proof 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, stating that she had taken her domestic worker's pills - labeled as being HCTZ - after becoming ill 48 hours prior to the positive test.

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

An standard 12-month decrease was granted after the runner confessed to the doping breaches within the 20 days required.

The three-year ban commenced on April 19 - when the athlete agreed to a temporary ban - with the competitor's results, honors, championships, participation and prize money from March 14 forfeited.

"No one is exempt from regulations."

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

"The road-running industry should be praised for jointly supporting anti-doping efforts able to revealing substance abuses performed by elite athletes in their events."