🔗 Share this article

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

The record holder was temporarily banned in the seventh month following a positive test for a banned substance - a prohibited substance often utilized as a concealing drug - on 14 March.

The athlete's achievements which pre-date that sample - including her world record performance of two hours, nine minutes and 56 seconds in the Chicago event in 2024 - will remain valid.

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) had sought a 48-month ban but the 31-year-old penalty was lowered to 36 months because she confessed to the infractions.

However, the AIU will keep examining evidence from Chepngetich's phone which it found suggest "strong grounds that her failed test may have been deliberate" - featuring messages dating back to the year 2022.

"This matter regarding the positive test for HCTZ has been settled, but the unit will continue to investigate the suspicious material found on the runner's phone to determine if any further infractions have taken place."

'Nobody is above the rules'

When questioned in the fourth month by the AIU, Chepngetich, the initial female to complete a marathon in less than 2 hours 10 minutes, was unable to give an reason for the positive test.

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

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

At a subsequent meeting on July 11, Chepngetich was shown the aforementioned suspicious evidence obtained from her mobile. In the meantime, contamination had also been disproven by the AIU.

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

The AIU had "serious reservations about the reliability of the new version of events" 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 standard 12-month decrease was granted after Chepngetich admitted the doping rule violations within the specified 20-day period.

The 36-month suspension started on April 19 - when the athlete accepted a voluntary provisional suspension - with the runner's performances, honors, championships, participation and earnings since March 14 lost.

"Nobody is exempt from regulations."

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

"Marathon organizers should be commended for jointly supporting doping prevention able to revealing doping violations performed by elite athletes in their races."