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Female long-distance world record-holder Ruth Chepngetich has been banned for 36 months after the Kenyan acknowledged doping rule violations.

Chepngetich was temporarily banned in the seventh month following a failed test for a banned substance - a prohibited substance often utilized as a concealing drug - on March 14.

Chepngetich's accomplishments which occurred before that test - including her world record time of two hours, nine minutes and 56 seconds in Chicago in 2024 - will still stand.

The sports governing body had sought a four-year suspension but the runner's penalty was lowered to three years because she admitted to the infractions.

Nonetheless, the AIU will continue to investigate evidence from the athlete's mobile device which it found suggest "a reasonable suspicion that her positive test may have been intentional" - including messages dating back to 2022.

"The case concerning the positive test for HCTZ has been settled, but the AIU will continue to investigate the suspicious material found on Chepngetich's device to determine if any further infractions have occurred."

'Nobody is above the rules'

When questioned in April by the AIU, the marathoner, the first woman to run a marathon in less than 2 hours 10 minutes, was unable to give an explanation for the failed test.

Although the substance has a lowest detectable limit of 20 ng/mL in urine, 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 sample collected 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 acquired from her mobile. In the meantime, accidental exposure had also been ruled out by the authority.

Chepngetich changed her explanation on July 31, stating that she had taken her housemaid'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 sport's anti-doping rules, such "carelessness" is considered "implied intention, for which an longer 48-month sanction is applicable".

An automatic one-year reduction was applied after the runner confessed to the doping breaches inside the specified 20-day period.

The three-year ban commenced on 19 April - when Chepngetich agreed to a temporary ban - with the runner's results, honors, titles, participation and earnings since March 14 forfeited.

"Nobody is exempt from regulations."

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

"The road-running industry should be commended for collectively funding doping prevention able to revealing substance abuses performed by elite athletes in their races."