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

Chepngetich was temporarily banned in July following a positive test for a banned substance - a prohibited substance used commonly as a concealing drug - on 14 March.

The athlete's achievements which pre-date that sample - including her world record performance of 2:09:56 in Chicago in October 2024 - will still stand.

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) had requested a four-year suspension but the 31-year-old punishment was lowered to 36 months because she confessed to the infractions.

Nonetheless, the AIU will continue to investigate evidence from Chepngetich's mobile device which it found suggest "a reasonable suspicion that her positive test may have been deliberate" - including communications from as early as 2022.

"This matter regarding the failed test for the substance has been settled, but the unit will keep looking into the suspicious material found on the runner's phone to determine if any further infractions have occurred."

'No one is exempt from regulations'

When questioned in the fourth month by the integrity body, Chepngetich, the initial female to complete a marathon in under 2:10, could not provide an explanation for the positive test.

While HCTZ has a lowest detectable limit of 20 ng/mL in urine, the athlete's test showed an approximate level of 3,800 ng/mL.

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

At a later interview on July 11, Chepngetich was presented with the aforementioned questionable proof obtained from her phone. Meanwhile, contamination had also been ruled out by the AIU.

The athlete changed her explanation on July 31, stating that she had taken her domestic worker's pills - marked as being the banned substance - after becoming ill two days before the positive test.

The unit had "serious reservations about the reliability of the new version of events" and, in the context of the athletics' anti-doping rules, such "recklessness" is deemed "indirect intent, for which an longer 48-month sanction applies".

An standard 12-month decrease was applied after Chepngetich admitted the doping breaches inside the specified 20-day period.

The three-year ban commenced on April 19 - when Chepngetich agreed to a temporary ban - with the competitor's results, awards, titles, appearance and prize money since 14 March forfeited.

"No one is exempt from regulations."

"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 collectively funding doping prevention able to revealing doping violations performed by elite athletes in their events."