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Women's marathon world record-holder the athlete has been suspended for 36 months after the runner acknowledged doping rule violations.

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

The athlete's achievements which pre-date that test - such as her world record time 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 integrity unit will continue to investigate proof from Chepngetich's phone which it found suggest "strong grounds that her positive test may have been intentional" - including messages dating back to the year 2022.

"The case regarding the failed test for HCTZ has been settled, but the unit will keep looking into the suspicious material recovered from the runner's phone to determine if any other violations have occurred."

'Nobody is above the rules'

When questioned in April by the integrity body, the marathoner, the first woman to complete a marathon in under 2:10, was unable to give an reason for the positive test.

While the substance has a lowest detectable limit of 20 ng/mL in samples, the athlete's test showed an estimated concentration of 3800 ng/mL.

Small amounts of the diuretic below the detection threshold were also identified in a test collected from the runner two weeks earlier, on 28 February.

At a later interview on July 11, Chepngetich was shown the previously mentioned questionable proof acquired from her mobile. In the meantime, accidental exposure had also been ruled out by the AIU.

The athlete altered her story on July 31, claiming that she had used her housemaid's medication - labeled as being the banned substance - after becoming ill two days before the failed test.

The AIU had "serious reservations about the credibility of the revised account" and, in the context of the sport's anti-doping rules, such "carelessness" is deemed "implied intention, for which an increased four-year sanction applies".

An automatic one-year reduction was granted after the runner confessed to the anti-doping breaches inside the 20 days required.

The three-year ban commenced on 19 April - when Chepngetich agreed to a voluntary provisional suspension - with the competitor's performances, awards, titles, participation and prize money from March 14 lost.

"No one is above the rules."

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

"The road-running industry should be praised for collectively funding anti-doping efforts able to revealing substance abuses committed by top competitors in their races."