🔗 Share this article

Women's marathon global champion Ruth Chepngetich has been suspended for 36 months after the Kenyan admitted to doping rule violations.

The record holder was provisionally suspended in July following a positive test for Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) - a banned diuretic used commonly as a masking agent - on 14 March.

The athlete's accomplishments which occurred before that sample - including her world record time of 2:09:56 in Chicago in 2024 - will remain valid.

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

However, the AIU will keep examining evidence from the athlete's mobile device which it found indicate "strong grounds that her failed test may have been intentional" - featuring communications from as early as 2022.

"The case regarding the positive test for HCTZ has been resolved, but the unit will continue to investigate the questionable evidence recovered from Chepngetich's device to ascertain if any other violations have taken place."

'Nobody is above the rules'

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

While the substance has a minimum reporting level of 20 nanograms per millilitre (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 test taken from Chepngetich 14 days prior, on 28 February.

At a subsequent meeting on 11 July, the record holder was shown the previously mentioned suspicious evidence acquired from her phone. In the meantime, accidental exposure had also been ruled out by the AIU.

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

The unit had "major doubts about the reliability of the revised account" and, in the context of the athletics' anti-doping regulations, such "carelessness" is deemed "implied intention, for which an longer 48-month sanction is applicable".

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

The 36-month suspension commenced on 19 April - when Chepngetich accepted a voluntary provisional suspension - with the competitor's performances, awards, titles, appearance and earnings since 14 March forfeited.

"Nobody is above the rules."

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

"Marathon organizers should be commended for collectively funding anti-doping efforts capable of revealing substance abuses performed by elite athletes in their races."