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Women's marathon world record-holder the athlete has been banned for 36 months after the runner admitted to anti-doping infractions.

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

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

The sports governing body had requested a 48-month suspension but the runner's penalty was lowered to 36 months because she admitted to the violations.

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

"The case regarding the failed test for HCTZ has been settled, but the unit will continue to investigate the suspicious material found on Chepngetich's phone to ascertain if any other violations have taken place."

'Nobody is above the rules'

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

Although the substance has a lowest detectable limit of 20 ng/mL in urine, Chepngetich's sample showed an approximate level of 3,800 ng/mL.

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

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

Chepngetich altered her story on 31 July, stating that she had taken her housemaid's pills - marked as being the banned substance - after falling sick two days before the failed test.

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

An automatic one-year reduction was granted after Chepngetich confessed to the anti-doping rule violations within the 20 days required.

The 36-month suspension commenced on 19 April - when Chepngetich agreed to a temporary ban - with the runner's results, awards, titles, appearance and earnings from March 14 forfeited.

"Nobody is above the rules."

"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 jointly supporting doping prevention capable of revealing doping violations performed by top competitors in their events."