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Female long-distance world record-holder the athlete has been suspended for 36 months after the runner confessed to doping rule violations.

The record holder was temporarily banned in the seventh month following a positive test for Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) - a banned diuretic often utilized as a masking agent - on 14 March.

The athlete's achievements which occurred before that test - such as her global best performance of 2:09:56 in the Chicago event in 2024 - will remain valid.

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) had requested a four-year suspension but the runner's punishment was reduced to 36 months because she confessed to the violations.

However, the integrity unit will continue to investigate evidence from the athlete's phone which it found indicate "a reasonable suspicion that her positive test may have been deliberate" - including messages from as early as the year 2022.

"The case regarding the positive test for HCTZ has been settled, but the unit will continue to investigate the suspicious material found on the runner's phone to ascertain if any other violations have taken place."

'Nobody is above the rules'

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

Although the substance has a minimum reporting level of 20 nanograms per millilitre (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 found in a sample collected from Chepngetich two weeks earlier, on 28 February.

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

The athlete changed her explanation on 31 July, stating that she had taken her housemaid's medication - labeled as being the banned substance - after becoming ill 48 hours prior to the failed test.

The unit had "major doubts about the reliability of the revised account" and, in the framework of the athletics' anti-doping regulations, such "carelessness" is deemed "indirect intent, for which an longer 48-month penalty is applicable".

An standard 12-month decrease was granted after the runner confessed to the anti-doping breaches within the 20 days required.

The 36-month suspension commenced on 19 April - when Chepngetich agreed to a voluntary provisional suspension - with the runner's results, awards, championships, participation and earnings since March 14 forfeited.

"Nobody is exempt from regulations."

"While unfortunate 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 doping prevention capable of revealing doping violations performed by elite athletes in their events."