🔗 Share this article

Female long-distance world record-holder the athlete has been suspended for three years after the runner acknowledged anti-doping infractions.

Chepngetich was provisionally suspended in July following a positive test for a banned substance - a banned diuretic often utilized as a masking agent - on 14 March.

The athlete's achievements which pre-date that test - including her world record performance of two hours, nine minutes and 56 seconds in Chicago in 2024 - will still stand.

The sports governing body had requested a 48-month ban but the runner's penalty was lowered to 36 months because she confessed to the infractions.

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

"The case concerning the positive test for the substance has been settled, but the AIU will continue to investigate the questionable evidence found on the runner's device to ascertain if any further infractions have occurred."

'No one is exempt from regulations'

When interviewed in the fourth month by the integrity body, Chepngetich, the first woman to run a marathon in less than 2 hours 10 minutes, could not provide an reason for the positive test.

Although HCTZ has a minimum reporting level of 20 nanograms per millilitre (ng/mL) in urine, the athlete's test showed an estimated concentration of 3800 ng/mL.

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

At a subsequent meeting on July 11, Chepngetich was shown the previously mentioned questionable proof acquired from her mobile. In the meantime, accidental exposure had also been disproven by the authority.

Chepngetich altered her story on 31 July, claiming that she had taken her housemaid's medication - marked as being HCTZ - after falling sick 48 hours prior to the failed test.

The unit had "serious reservations about the credibility of the revised account" and, in the context of the sport's doping regulations, such "carelessness" is deemed "indirect intent, for which an longer 48-month penalty is applicable".

An automatic one-year reduction was applied after Chepngetich confessed to the doping breaches within the 20 days required.

The 36-month suspension started on April 19 - when Chepngetich accepted a voluntary provisional suspension - with the runner's performances, honors, championships, appearance and prize money since March 14 forfeited.

"Nobody is above the rules."

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

"Marathon organizers should be praised for collectively funding anti-doping efforts capable of revealing substance abuses performed by top competitors in their events."