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Women's marathon world record-holder Ruth Chepngetich has been suspended for three years after the runner admitted to anti-doping infractions.

The record holder was temporarily banned in the seventh month following a failed test for a banned substance - a banned diuretic used commonly as a concealing drug - on 14 March.

Chepngetich's achievements which pre-date that test - such as her world record time of two hours, nine minutes and 56 seconds in Chicago in 2024 - will still stand.

The sports governing body had requested a 48-month ban but the runner's penalty was reduced to 36 months because she confessed to the violations.

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

"This matter regarding the positive test for HCTZ has been settled, but the AIU will continue to investigate the suspicious material recovered from the runner's device to determine if any other violations have occurred."

'No one is exempt from regulations'

When questioned in the fourth month by the AIU, the marathoner, the first woman to run a marathon in less than 2 hours 10 minutes, was unable to give an explanation for the failed test.

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

Traces of HCTZ below the detection threshold were also found in a test taken from the runner two weeks earlier, on February 28.

At a subsequent meeting on July 11, Chepngetich was presented with the aforementioned suspicious evidence acquired from her mobile. Meanwhile, contamination had also been ruled out by the authority.

The athlete altered her story on July 31, claiming that she had taken her housemaid's pills - marked as being the banned substance - after falling sick 48 hours prior to the failed test.

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

An standard 12-month decrease was applied after the runner admitted the anti-doping rule violations within the specified 20-day period.

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

"Nobody is exempt from regulations."

"Although unfortunate for those who put their trust in this athlete, this is how the process is designed to operate."

"Marathon organizers should be praised for collectively funding anti-doping efforts capable of uncovering substance abuses performed by top competitors in their races."