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Women's marathon world record-holder the athlete has been banned for three years after the Kenyan admitted to doping rule violations.

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

Chepngetich's achievements which pre-date that sample - including her global best performance of 2:09:56 in Chicago in 2024 - will still stand.

The sports governing body had requested a four-year suspension but the 31-year-old penalty was lowered to 36 months because she admitted to the violations.

Nonetheless, the AIU will keep examining proof from the athlete's phone which it found suggest "strong grounds that her positive test may have been intentional" - featuring messages dating back to the year 2022.

"This matter regarding the failed test for HCTZ has been resolved, but the AIU will continue to investigate the questionable evidence recovered from the runner's phone to determine if any further infractions have occurred."

'Nobody is above the rules'

When questioned in April by the integrity body, Chepngetich, the first woman to run a marathon in under 2:10, was unable to give an explanation for the failed test.

While HCTZ has a minimum reporting level of 20 ng/mL in urine, the athlete's sample showed an estimated concentration of 3800 ng/mL.

Traces of HCTZ below the detection threshold were also found in a sample collected from the runner 14 days prior, on February 28.

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

Chepngetich altered her story on July 31, claiming that she had taken her domestic worker's pills - marked as being HCTZ - after falling sick 48 hours prior to the positive test.

The AIU had "serious reservations about the reliability of the new version of events" and, in the framework of the sport's doping regulations, such "carelessness" is considered "indirect intent, for which an increased four-year penalty applies".

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

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

"Nobody is above the rules."

"While unfortunate for those who had faith in this athlete, this is how the process is supposed to work."

"Marathon organizers should be praised for jointly supporting doping prevention able to revealing substance abuses committed by elite athletes in their events."