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Women's marathon global champion the athlete has been banned for 36 months after the runner confessed to doping rule violations.

Chepngetich was temporarily banned in the seventh month following a failed test for Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) - a banned diuretic often utilized as a concealing drug - on 14 March.

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

The sports governing body had sought a 48-month ban but the 31-year-old penalty was reduced to three years because she confessed to the violations.

Nonetheless, the AIU will keep examining proof from Chepngetich's mobile device which it found suggest "a reasonable suspicion that her failed test may have been intentional" - featuring messages from as early as 2022.

"This matter concerning the positive test for the substance has been resolved, but the unit will keep looking into the questionable evidence found on the runner's device to ascertain if any other violations have taken place."

'Nobody is above the rules'

When interviewed in the fourth month by the AIU, the marathoner, the first woman to run a marathon in under 2:10, could not provide an reason for the positive test.

While the substance has a lowest detectable limit of 20 ng/mL in urine, Chepngetich's test showed an estimated concentration of 3800 ng/mL.

Small amounts of HCTZ below the detection threshold were also identified in a sample collected from the runner 14 days prior, on February 28.

At a subsequent meeting on July 11, the record holder was shown the aforementioned suspicious evidence obtained from her mobile. In the meantime, accidental exposure had also been disproven by the authority.

Chepngetich changed her explanation on 31 July, claiming that she had taken her housemaid's pills - labeled as being the banned substance - after falling sick two days before the positive test.

The AIU had "serious reservations about the credibility of the revised account" and, in the context of the sport's doping regulations, such "recklessness" is deemed "indirect intent, for which an increased four-year sanction applies".

An automatic one-year reduction was granted after Chepngetich admitted the anti-doping rule violations inside the 20 days required.

The three-year ban started on 19 April - when the athlete agreed to a voluntary provisional suspension - with the competitor's results, awards, championships, participation and prize money since March 14 lost.

"Nobody is above the rules."

"While unfortunate for those who had faith in this runner, this is how the system is supposed to work."

"Marathon organizers should be commended for jointly supporting anti-doping efforts capable of uncovering doping violations performed by elite athletes in their events."