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Female long-distance world record-holder Ruth Chepngetich has been suspended for three years after the runner confessed to anti-doping infractions.

Chepngetich was temporarily banned in July following a failed test for Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) - a prohibited substance often utilized as a masking agent - on March 14.

The athlete's accomplishments which occurred before that test - including her global best time of two hours, nine minutes and 56 seconds in Chicago in 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 admitted to the infractions.

Nonetheless, the integrity unit will continue to investigate evidence from Chepngetich's mobile device which it found suggest "strong grounds that her positive test may have been deliberate" - including messages dating back to 2022.

"The case concerning the failed test for HCTZ has been resolved, but the AIU will continue to investigate the questionable evidence recovered from the runner's device to ascertain if any other violations have taken place."

'Nobody is above the rules'

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

While HCTZ has a lowest detectable limit of 20 nanograms per millilitre (ng/mL) in samples, the athlete's test showed an approximate level of 3800 ng/mL.

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

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

The athlete altered her story on 31 July, claiming that she had taken her domestic worker's medication - marked as being HCTZ - after falling sick 48 hours prior to the positive test.

The AIU had "major doubts about the credibility of the revised account" and, in the context of the athletics' doping regulations, such "carelessness" is considered "implied intention, for which an longer 48-month penalty is applicable".

An automatic one-year reduction was granted after Chepngetich admitted the doping breaches inside the 20 days required.

The three-year ban started on 19 April - when the athlete agreed to a voluntary provisional suspension - with the competitor's results, honors, titles, appearance and prize money from March 14 forfeited.

"No one is above the rules."

"While disappointing for those who put their trust in this runner, this is how the process is designed to operate."

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