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Female long-distance global champion the athlete has been prohibited for 36 months after the Kenyan acknowledged doping infractions.

Chepngetich was provisionally suspended in July following a positive test for a banned substance - a banned diuretic often utilized as a concealing drug - on 14 March.

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

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) had requested a four-year ban but the 31-year-old punishment was reduced to three years because she admitted to the violations.

However, the AIU will keep examining proof from Chepngetich's phone which it found suggest "a reasonable suspicion that her positive test may have been deliberate" - featuring messages from as early as the year 2022.

"This matter regarding the positive test for HCTZ has been resolved, but the AIU will continue to investigate the suspicious material recovered from the runner's device to ascertain if any other violations have occurred."

'No one is exempt from regulations'

When questioned in April by the integrity body, Chepngetich, the first woman to complete a marathon in under 2:10, was unable to give an explanation for the positive test.

Although HCTZ has a lowest detectable limit of 20 nanograms per millilitre (ng/mL) in urine, Chepngetich's test showed an estimated concentration of 3800 ng/mL.

Traces of the diuretic below the minimal reporting level were also found in a sample collected from Chepngetich 14 days prior, on 28 February.

At a subsequent meeting on July 11, the record holder was presented with the previously mentioned questionable proof obtained from her phone. In the meantime, contamination had also been disproven by the authority.

Chepngetich altered her story on 31 July, stating that she had used her domestic worker's medication - labeled as being HCTZ - after becoming ill two days before the positive test.

The AIU had "major doubts about the reliability of the revised account" and, in the context of the sport's doping regulations, such "carelessness" is considered "indirect intent, for which an increased four-year penalty applies".

An standard 12-month decrease was applied after the runner confessed to the anti-doping rule violations within the 20 days required.

The 36-month suspension commenced on 19 April - when Chepngetich accepted a temporary ban - with the competitor's results, honors, championships, participation and earnings since March 14 forfeited.

"Nobody is exempt from regulations."

"Although unfortunate for those who had faith in this runner, this is how the process is designed to operate."

"Marathon organizers should be praised for jointly supporting doping prevention capable of uncovering doping violations committed by elite athletes in their events."