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

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.

The athlete's accomplishments which pre-date that sample - such as her global best performance of 2:09:56 in the Chicago event in October 2024 - will still stand.

The sports governing body had sought a four-year suspension but the 31-year-old penalty was reduced to three years because she confessed to the infractions.

Nonetheless, the AIU will continue to investigate proof from the athlete's phone which it found indicate "a reasonable suspicion that her failed test may have been intentional" - including messages from as early as 2022.

"This matter concerning the failed test for HCTZ has been resolved, but the AIU will keep looking into the suspicious material found on the runner's phone to ascertain if any further infractions have occurred."

'No one is exempt from regulations'

When interviewed in April by the integrity body, Chepngetich, the initial female to run a marathon in under 2:10, was unable to give an explanation for the failed test.

While HCTZ has a minimum reporting level of 20 ng/mL in urine, the athlete's test showed an estimated concentration of 3,800 ng/mL.

Small amounts of the diuretic under the detection threshold were also identified in a sample collected from the runner two weeks earlier, on February 28.

At a later interview on 11 July, the record holder was shown the previously mentioned suspicious evidence obtained from her mobile. Meanwhile, accidental exposure had also been ruled out by the authority.

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

The AIU had "major doubts about the reliability of the revised account" and, in the context of the athletics' doping rules, such "recklessness" is deemed "indirect intent, for which an longer 48-month sanction is applicable".

An automatic one-year reduction was granted after the runner confessed to the doping rule violations within the 20 days required.

The three-year ban commenced on 19 April - when the athlete agreed to a temporary ban - with the runner's results, awards, championships, appearance and earnings from March 14 forfeited.

"No one is exempt from regulations."

"While disappointing for those who put their trust in this athlete, this is how the process is supposed to work."

"The road-running industry should be commended for jointly supporting anti-doping efforts capable of uncovering substance abuses performed by elite athletes in their races."