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

Chepngetich was provisionally suspended in July following a failed test for a banned substance - a prohibited substance often utilized as a concealing drug - on March 14.

The athlete's accomplishments which occurred before that test - including her global best performance of two hours, nine minutes and 56 seconds in Chicago in 2024 - will still stand.

The sports governing body had sought a 48-month suspension but the runner's penalty was reduced to three years because she admitted to the violations.

However, the AIU will keep examining evidence from the athlete's mobile device which it found suggest "a reasonable suspicion that her positive test may have been intentional" - featuring communications from as early as 2022.

"The case regarding the positive test for HCTZ has been resolved, but the unit will keep looking into the questionable evidence found on the runner's device to determine if any further infractions have occurred."

'No one is exempt from regulations'

When interviewed 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.

While the substance has a lowest detectable limit of 20 nanograms per millilitre (ng/mL) in samples, the athlete's test showed an estimated concentration of 3800 ng/mL.

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

At a subsequent meeting on 11 July, Chepngetich was shown the previously mentioned suspicious evidence acquired from her phone. Meanwhile, contamination had also been ruled out by the authority.

Chepngetich changed her explanation on 31 July, stating that she had used her domestic worker's pills - labeled as being the banned substance - after falling sick 48 hours prior to the failed test.

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

An standard 12-month decrease was granted after the runner confessed to the doping breaches inside the 20 days required.

The three-year ban commenced on 19 April - when the athlete accepted a temporary ban - with the competitor's performances, awards, titles, appearance and prize money since 14 March forfeited.

"Nobody is above the rules."

"While unfortunate for those who put their trust in this athlete, this is how the process is designed to operate."

"The road-running industry should be commended for jointly supporting anti-doping efforts able to revealing substance abuses committed by elite athletes in their events."