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Women's marathon global champion Ruth Chepngetich has been banned for three years after the runner admitted to anti-doping infractions.

The record holder was temporarily banned in the seventh month following a positive test for Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) - a banned diuretic often utilized as a masking agent - on 14 March.

Chepngetich's achievements which pre-date that sample - such as her global best time of two hours, nine minutes and 56 seconds in the Chicago event in 2024 - will remain valid.

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) had requested a four-year ban but the runner's penalty was reduced to three years because she confessed to the violations.

However, the AIU will keep examining evidence from Chepngetich's phone which it found suggest "strong grounds that her failed test may have been deliberate" - featuring messages from as early as 2022.

"The case concerning the failed test for HCTZ has been resolved, but the AIU will keep looking into the questionable evidence recovered from the runner's phone to ascertain if any further infractions have occurred."

'Nobody is above the rules'

When questioned in the fourth month by the integrity body, Chepngetich, the initial female to run a marathon in under 2:10, was unable to give an explanation for the positive test.

Although HCTZ has a minimum reporting level of 20 nanograms per millilitre (ng/mL) in urine, the athlete's sample showed an approximate level of 3,800 ng/mL.

Traces of the diuretic below the detection threshold were also identified in a sample taken from Chepngetich two weeks earlier, on 28 February.

At a subsequent meeting on 11 July, the record holder was presented with the aforementioned suspicious evidence acquired from her phone. Meanwhile, accidental exposure had also been disproven by the AIU.

The athlete changed her explanation on July 31, stating that she had taken her housemaid's pills - marked as being the banned substance - after becoming ill two days before the positive test.

The unit had "serious reservations about the credibility of the new version of events" and, in the context of the sport's anti-doping regulations, such "recklessness" is deemed "indirect intent, for which an longer 48-month penalty is applicable".

An automatic one-year reduction was granted after Chepngetich admitted the anti-doping breaches inside the specified 20-day period.

The three-year ban started on April 19 - when Chepngetich accepted a voluntary provisional suspension - with the competitor's performances, awards, championships, appearance and earnings from March 14 lost.

"Nobody is exempt from regulations."

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

"The road-running industry should be commended for collectively funding anti-doping efforts able to revealing doping violations committed by top competitors in their events."