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Female long-distance world record-holder the athlete has been prohibited for three years after the Kenyan confessed to anti-doping infractions.

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

Chepngetich's accomplishments which occurred before that test - including her global best performance of 2:09:56 in the Chicago event in October 2024 - will still stand.

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

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

"The case regarding the positive test for HCTZ has been resolved, but the AIU will continue to investigate the suspicious material recovered from the runner's device to ascertain if any further infractions have taken place."

'Nobody is above the rules'

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

While the substance has a lowest detectable limit of 20 ng/mL in samples, Chepngetich's sample showed an approximate level of 3,800 ng/mL.

Traces of HCTZ below the minimal reporting level were also found in a sample taken from Chepngetich two weeks earlier, on 28 February.

At a subsequent meeting on July 11, the record holder was presented with the aforementioned suspicious evidence obtained from her mobile. Meanwhile, accidental exposure had also been ruled out by the authority.

Chepngetich altered her story on July 31, stating that she had taken her housemaid's pills - marked as being the banned substance - after becoming ill 48 hours prior to the positive test.

The unit had "major doubts about the credibility of the revised account" and, in the context of the athletics' doping regulations, such "recklessness" is considered "indirect intent, for which an longer 48-month sanction applies".

An automatic one-year reduction was granted after the runner confessed to the anti-doping rule violations within the specified 20-day period.

The three-year ban commenced on 19 April - when Chepngetich accepted a voluntary provisional suspension - with the runner's performances, honors, titles, participation and earnings since March 14 lost.

"Nobody is above the rules."

"Although 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 anti-doping efforts able to revealing doping violations committed by top competitors in their races."