Marathon Record Holder Ruth Chepngetich Receives 36-month Ban

Women's marathon global champion Ruth Chepngetich has been prohibited for 36 months after the Kenyan acknowledged anti-doping infractions.

The record holder was provisionally suspended in the seventh month following a positive test for Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) - a banned diuretic often utilized as a concealing drug - on 14 March.

Chepngetich's accomplishments which occurred before that sample - such as her world record performance of two hours, nine minutes and 56 seconds in Chicago in 2024 - will remain valid.

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) had sought a 48-month suspension but the runner's punishment was reduced to three years because she confessed to the violations.

However, the integrity unit will continue to investigate proof from Chepngetich's mobile device which it found indicate "strong grounds that her positive test may have been deliberate" - featuring messages dating back to 2022.

"The case regarding the positive test for the substance has been settled, but the AIU will keep looking into the suspicious material recovered from Chepngetich's phone to determine if any further infractions have taken place."

'No one is exempt from regulations'

When questioned in the fourth month 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, the athlete's test showed an estimated concentration of 3800 ng/mL.

Small amounts of the diuretic under the detection threshold were also identified in a test collected from Chepngetich 14 days prior, on 28 February.

At a later interview on July 11, Chepngetich was presented with the aforementioned suspicious evidence acquired from her phone. In the meantime, contamination had also been disproven by the authority.

The athlete altered her story on 31 July, stating that she had taken her domestic worker's medication - labeled as being the banned substance - after falling sick two days before the positive test.

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

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

The three-year ban commenced on 19 April - when Chepngetich agreed to a voluntary provisional suspension - with the competitor's results, honors, championships, participation and prize money from 14 March forfeited.

"Nobody is exempt from regulations."

"Although disappointing for those who had faith in this athlete, this is how the process is designed to operate."

"Marathon organizers should be commended for collectively funding anti-doping efforts able to revealing substance abuses committed by top competitors in their races."