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Women's marathon global champion Ruth Chepngetich has been suspended for three years after the Kenyan acknowledged anti-doping rule violations.

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

The athlete's achievements which pre-date that test - such as her world record performance of 2:09:56 in Chicago in 2024 - will still stand.

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

Nonetheless, the AIU will continue to investigate evidence from the athlete's mobile device which it found suggest "a reasonable suspicion that her failed test may have been deliberate" - including communications dating back to 2022.

"This matter concerning the failed test for the substance has been resolved, but the AIU will keep looking into the questionable evidence recovered from the runner's phone to determine 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, could not provide an reason for the positive test.

Although the substance has a minimum reporting level of 20 nanograms per millilitre (ng/mL) in samples, Chepngetich's sample showed an estimated concentration of 3,800 ng/mL.

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

At a later interview on July 11, Chepngetich was presented with the aforementioned suspicious evidence obtained from her phone. In the meantime, accidental exposure had also been disproven by the AIU.

Chepngetich changed her explanation on 31 July, claiming that she had used her domestic worker's medication - marked as being the banned substance - after falling sick two days before the positive test.

The AIU had "serious reservations about the reliability of the revised account" and, in the framework of the athletics' anti-doping regulations, such "carelessness" is deemed "indirect intent, for which an longer 48-month penalty is applicable".

An standard 12-month decrease was granted after Chepngetich admitted the doping breaches within the specified 20-day period.

The 36-month suspension commenced on April 19 - when the athlete agreed to a voluntary provisional suspension - with the competitor's performances, honors, championships, appearance and earnings from 14 March lost.

"Nobody is above the rules."

"While unfortunate for those who put their trust in this athlete, this is how the system is supposed to work."

"The road-running industry should be praised for jointly supporting anti-doping efforts able to uncovering doping violations committed by elite athletes in their races."