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Female long-distance global champion Ruth Chepngetich has been prohibited for three years after the runner confessed to doping infractions.

The record holder was provisionally suspended in July following a failed test for a banned substance - a prohibited substance used commonly as a concealing drug - on 14 March.

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

The sports governing body had sought a four-year ban but the runner's penalty was lowered to 36 months because she admitted to the infractions.

Nonetheless, the integrity unit will keep examining proof from the athlete's phone which it found indicate "a reasonable suspicion that her failed test may have been deliberate" - including communications dating back to 2022.

"This matter regarding the positive test for the substance has been settled, but the unit will keep looking into the suspicious material recovered from Chepngetich's phone to determine if any other violations have taken place."

'No one is exempt from regulations'

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

Although the substance has a lowest detectable limit of 20 nanograms per millilitre (ng/mL) in samples, the athlete's sample showed an approximate level of 3800 ng/mL.

Traces of HCTZ under the minimal reporting level were also found in a test collected from Chepngetich two weeks earlier, on 28 February.

At a later interview on 11 July, Chepngetich was presented with the aforementioned questionable proof obtained from her mobile. Meanwhile, accidental exposure had also been disproven by the authority.

The athlete changed her explanation on July 31, stating that she had taken her housemaid's medication - marked as being HCTZ - after falling sick 48 hours prior to the failed test.

The AIU had "serious reservations about the reliability of the revised account" and, in the framework of the athletics' anti-doping regulations, such "carelessness" is considered "implied intention, for which an increased four-year penalty is applicable".

An automatic one-year reduction was applied after the runner admitted the doping breaches within the specified 20-day period.

The 36-month suspension commenced on April 19 - when the athlete agreed to a voluntary provisional suspension - with the runner's results, honors, titles, appearance and prize money from 14 March lost.

"Nobody is above the rules."

"Although disappointing for those who put their trust in this athlete, this is how the process is supposed to work."

"The road-running industry should be praised for collectively funding doping prevention able to uncovering substance abuses committed by top competitors in their events."