Marathon Record Holder Ruth Chepngetich Receives 36-month Ban

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

The record holder was temporarily banned in the seventh month following a failed test for Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) - a prohibited substance used commonly as a masking agent - on March 14.

The athlete's accomplishments which pre-date that test - including her world record time of two hours, nine minutes and 56 seconds in Chicago in 2024 - will still stand.

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

Nonetheless, the AIU will keep examining evidence from Chepngetich's phone which it found suggest "strong grounds that her positive test may have been intentional" - including messages from as early as the year 2022.

"The case regarding the failed test for HCTZ has been settled, but the AIU will keep looking into the questionable evidence recovered from Chepngetich's phone to ascertain if any further infractions have occurred."

'Nobody is above the rules'

When questioned in April by the AIU, the marathoner, the initial female to run a marathon in less than 2 hours 10 minutes, could not provide an reason for the failed test.

Although HCTZ has a lowest detectable limit of 20 nanograms per millilitre (ng/mL) in samples, Chepngetich's sample showed an approximate level of 3,800 ng/mL.

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

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

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

The AIU had "major doubts about the credibility 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 applies".

An standard 12-month decrease was applied after the runner admitted the doping breaches inside the specified 20-day period.

The 36-month suspension commenced on 19 April - when the athlete accepted a voluntary provisional suspension - with the competitor's results, awards, titles, appearance and earnings since March 14 forfeited.

"Nobody is above the rules."

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

"Marathon organizers should be praised for jointly supporting doping prevention capable of revealing doping violations performed by elite athletes in their races."