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

The record holder was provisionally suspended in the seventh month following a failed test for Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) - a banned diuretic used commonly as a concealing drug - on March 14.

Chepngetich's achievements which pre-date that test - including her world record performance of 2:09:56 in the Chicago event in October 2024 - will remain valid.

The sports governing body had requested a 48-month ban but the 31-year-old punishment was reduced to three years because she admitted to the violations.

However, the integrity unit will keep examining evidence from the athlete's mobile device which it found indicate "a reasonable suspicion that her failed test may have been intentional" - featuring messages from as early as the year 2022.

"The case concerning the positive test for the substance has been settled, but the unit will keep looking into the questionable evidence recovered from the runner's phone to determine if any further infractions have occurred."

'No one is exempt from regulations'

When questioned in April by the AIU, the marathoner, the first woman to run a marathon in under 2:10, could not provide an reason for the positive test.

Although HCTZ has a lowest detectable limit of 20 nanograms per millilitre (ng/mL) in urine, Chepngetich's test showed an approximate level of 3800 ng/mL.

Small amounts of HCTZ under the minimal reporting level were also found in a test collected from the runner two weeks earlier, on February 28.

At a subsequent meeting on July 11, the record holder was shown the aforementioned suspicious evidence obtained from her mobile. Meanwhile, contamination had also been disproven by the AIU.

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

The AIU had "serious reservations 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 increased four-year penalty applies".

An automatic one-year reduction was applied after Chepngetich confessed to the anti-doping breaches within the specified 20-day period.

The three-year ban started on 19 April - when the athlete agreed to a temporary ban - with the runner's performances, honors, championships, appearance and prize money from March 14 lost.

"Nobody is exempt from regulations."

"Although disappointing for those who put their trust in this runner, this is how the system is supposed to work."

"The road-running industry should be commended for collectively funding anti-doping efforts capable of revealing doping violations performed by elite athletes in their events."