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Female long-distance world record-holder Ruth Chepngetich has been prohibited for 36 months after the Kenyan admitted to doping rule violations.

Chepngetich was provisionally suspended in July following a positive test for a banned substance - a prohibited substance used commonly as a concealing drug - on March 14.

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

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

However, the AIU will keep examining proof from the athlete's phone which it found suggest "a reasonable suspicion that her positive test may have been intentional" - featuring messages dating back to 2022.

"The case concerning the positive test for HCTZ has been resolved, but the unit will continue to investigate the suspicious material recovered from the runner's phone to ascertain if any other violations have occurred."

'Nobody is above the rules'

When questioned in April by the integrity body, Chepngetich, the first woman to run a marathon in less than 2 hours 10 minutes, was unable to give an explanation for the failed test.

While HCTZ has a minimum reporting level of 20 nanograms per millilitre (ng/mL) in urine, the athlete's sample showed an estimated concentration of 3800 ng/mL.

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

At a later interview on 11 July, Chepngetich was presented with the previously mentioned suspicious evidence obtained from her phone. Meanwhile, accidental exposure had also been disproven by the authority.

The athlete altered her story on July 31, claiming that she had used her domestic worker's medication - marked as being the banned substance - after falling sick 48 hours prior to the positive test.

The unit had "major doubts about the credibility of the revised account" and, in the framework of the sport's doping regulations, such "recklessness" is deemed "implied intention, for which an increased four-year penalty is applicable".

An automatic one-year reduction was applied after the runner confessed to the doping rule violations within the 20 days required.

The 36-month suspension started on April 19 - when the athlete agreed to a voluntary provisional suspension - with the competitor's performances, awards, titles, participation and earnings from 14 March forfeited.

"No one is exempt from regulations."

"While disappointing 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 doping prevention able to uncovering substance abuses performed by top competitors in their events."