Marathon Champion Ruth Chepngetich Receives 36-month Ban

Women's marathon world record-holder Ruth Chepngetich has been prohibited for three years after the runner confessed to anti-doping infractions.

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

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

The sports governing body had requested a 48-month suspension but the 31-year-old penalty was lowered to three years because she admitted to the infractions.

Nonetheless, the integrity unit will keep examining proof from Chepngetich's phone which it found indicate "strong grounds that her failed test may have been deliberate" - including messages from as early as 2022.

"This matter regarding the positive test for HCTZ has been settled, but the unit will keep looking into the questionable evidence recovered from the runner's phone to determine if any other violations have taken place."

'Nobody is above the rules'

When interviewed in the fourth month by the integrity body, Chepngetich, the first woman to complete a marathon in less than 2 hours 10 minutes, was unable to give 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 test showed an estimated concentration of 3,800 ng/mL.

Traces of HCTZ under the minimal reporting level were also identified in a test taken from the runner 14 days prior, on 28 February.

At a later interview on 11 July, Chepngetich was presented with the previously mentioned questionable proof obtained from her phone. Meanwhile, contamination had also been ruled out by the AIU.

The athlete changed her explanation on July 31, stating that she had taken her housemaid's pills - marked as being HCTZ - after becoming ill 48 hours prior to the positive test.

The unit had "serious reservations about the reliability of the revised account" and, in the context of the sport's doping regulations, such "recklessness" is deemed "indirect intent, for which an longer 48-month sanction is applicable".

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 Chepngetich agreed to a voluntary provisional suspension - with the runner's results, honors, titles, participation and earnings from 14 March forfeited.

"Nobody is above the rules."

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

"The road-running industry should be praised for collectively funding doping prevention able to revealing substance abuses committed by elite athletes in their races."