Long-distance running Champion Ruth Chepngetich Given 36-month Ban

Female long-distance world record-holder the athlete has been suspended for 36 months after the runner admitted to doping infractions.

The record holder was provisionally suspended in July following a failed test for Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) - a banned diuretic used commonly as a concealing drug - on March 14.

The athlete's accomplishments which occurred before that sample - including her world record time of 2:09:56 in the Chicago event in October 2024 - will still stand.

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) had requested a 48-month ban but the 31-year-old punishment was reduced to 36 months because she admitted to the infractions.

However, the AIU will keep examining proof from the athlete's mobile device which it found suggest "strong grounds that her positive test may have been deliberate" - featuring messages dating back to 2022.

"The case concerning the positive test for HCTZ has been settled, but the unit will keep looking into the suspicious material recovered from the runner's phone to determine if any further infractions have taken place."

'No one is exempt from regulations'

When questioned in April by the AIU, the marathoner, the first woman to complete a marathon in under 2:10, was unable to give an reason for the positive test.

Although HCTZ has a minimum reporting level of 20 nanograms per millilitre (ng/mL) in samples, Chepngetich's sample showed an approximate level of 3,800 ng/mL.

Small amounts of HCTZ under the minimal reporting level were also found in a sample taken from the runner 14 days prior, on 28 February.

At a later interview on 11 July, the record holder was presented with the aforementioned suspicious evidence obtained from her phone. Meanwhile, contamination had also been disproven by the AIU.

The athlete altered her story on July 31, claiming that she had used her domestic worker's medication - labeled as being the banned substance - after falling sick two days before the positive test.

The unit had "serious reservations about the reliability of the revised account" and, in the context of the athletics' anti-doping rules, such "recklessness" is considered "implied intention, for which an increased four-year sanction is applicable".

An automatic one-year reduction was applied after the runner confessed to the doping rule violations 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, awards, championships, appearance and prize money since 14 March forfeited.

"Nobody is above the rules."

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

"Marathon organizers should be commended for jointly supporting doping prevention capable of revealing substance abuses performed by elite athletes in their races."