Long-distance running Record Holder Ruth Chepngetich Handed Three-Year Ban

Female long-distance global champion Ruth Chepngetich has been banned for three years after the Kenyan admitted to doping infractions.

Chepngetich was provisionally suspended in the seventh month following a failed test for Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) - a prohibited substance often utilized as a concealing drug - on March 14.

The athlete's achievements which occurred before that test - including her global best performance of 2:09:56 in the Chicago event in 2024 - will still stand.

The sports governing body had requested a four-year suspension but the runner's penalty was reduced to three years because she admitted to the violations.

However, the AIU will continue to investigate evidence from Chepngetich's phone which it found suggest "strong grounds that her positive test may have been intentional" - including communications from as early as 2022.

"This matter concerning the positive test for HCTZ has been resolved, but the AIU will keep looking into the questionable evidence found on the runner's device to ascertain if any further infractions have occurred."

'Nobody is above the rules'

When interviewed in the fourth month by the AIU, the marathoner, the initial female to complete a marathon in under 2:10, was unable to give an explanation for the positive test.

While HCTZ has a lowest detectable limit of 20 ng/mL in samples, the athlete's test showed an approximate level of 3,800 ng/mL.

Small amounts of the diuretic under the minimal reporting level were also identified in a sample collected from Chepngetich 14 days prior, on 28 February.

At a subsequent meeting on 11 July, Chepngetich was presented with the previously mentioned questionable proof obtained from her phone. Meanwhile, contamination had also been disproven by the AIU.

Chepngetich altered her story on July 31, stating that she had used her housemaid's pills - labeled as being HCTZ - after falling sick 48 hours prior to the positive test.

The unit had "major doubts about the credibility of the revised account" and, in the context of the athletics' doping rules, such "recklessness" is deemed "indirect intent, for which an increased four-year penalty is applicable".

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

The three-year ban commenced on 19 April - when the athlete accepted a temporary ban - with the competitor's results, awards, championships, appearance and prize money 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."

"Marathon organizers should be commended for collectively funding doping prevention able to revealing substance abuses committed by top competitors in their events."