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Female long-distance world record-holder the athlete has been prohibited for three years after the Kenyan admitted to anti-doping infractions.

The record holder was provisionally suspended in the seventh month following a failed test for Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) - a prohibited substance often utilized as a concealing drug - on 14 March.

Chepngetich's achievements which pre-date that sample - including her world record time of 2:09:56 in the Chicago event in October 2024 - will remain valid.

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) had sought a four-year suspension but the runner's punishment was reduced to three years because she confessed to the infractions.

However, the integrity unit will continue to investigate proof from the athlete's mobile device which it found suggest "a reasonable suspicion that her failed test may have been deliberate" - featuring communications from as early as 2022.

"The case regarding the failed test for the substance has been settled, but the AIU will continue to investigate the questionable evidence recovered from Chepngetich's device to ascertain 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 run a marathon in under 2:10, was unable to give an explanation for the failed test.

While HCTZ has a lowest detectable limit of 20 nanograms per millilitre (ng/mL) in samples, Chepngetich's test showed an estimated concentration of 3800 ng/mL.

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

At a later interview on 11 July, Chepngetich was presented with the aforementioned suspicious evidence acquired from her mobile. In the meantime, contamination had also been ruled out by the AIU.

The athlete altered her story on July 31, claiming that she had used her domestic worker's pills - labeled as being the banned substance - after becoming ill 48 hours prior to the positive test.

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

An standard 12-month decrease was granted after Chepngetich confessed to the doping breaches within the specified 20-day period.

The three-year ban commenced on 19 April - when Chepngetich accepted a temporary ban - with the competitor's performances, honors, titles, appearance and earnings from March 14 lost.

"No one is above the rules."

"Although disappointing for those who put their trust in this athlete, this is how the system is designed to operate."

"Marathon organizers should be commended for collectively funding doping prevention capable of revealing doping violations performed by top competitors in their races."