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Female long-distance global champion the athlete has been prohibited for three years after the runner acknowledged anti-doping infractions.

Chepngetich was provisionally suspended in July following a failed test for a banned substance - a banned diuretic used commonly as a masking agent - on March 14.

Chepngetich's achievements which pre-date that sample - including her global best performance of 2:09:56 in Chicago in 2024 - will still stand.

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) had sought a four-year suspension but the runner's punishment was lowered to three years because she confessed to the infractions.

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" - including messages dating back to 2022.

"This matter regarding the failed test for the substance has been settled, but the AIU will keep looking into the suspicious material recovered from the runner's phone to ascertain if any other violations have occurred."

'Nobody is above the rules'

When interviewed 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 failed test.

While the substance has a lowest detectable limit of 20 ng/mL in urine, the athlete's sample showed an approximate level of 3800 ng/mL.

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

At a later interview on July 11, Chepngetich was shown the previously mentioned questionable proof acquired from her mobile. Meanwhile, contamination had also been disproven by the authority.

The athlete altered her story on July 31, stating that she had taken her housemaid's pills - labeled as being HCTZ - after becoming ill two days before the failed test.

The unit had "serious reservations about the credibility of the revised account" and, in the context of the athletics' anti-doping regulations, such "recklessness" is considered "implied intention, for which an increased four-year penalty applies".

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

The 36-month suspension commenced on April 19 - when Chepngetich agreed to a voluntary provisional suspension - with the competitor's performances, honors, championships, participation and earnings from March 14 lost.

"Nobody is exempt from regulations."

"Although disappointing for those who had faith in this runner, this is how the process is supposed to work."

"Marathon organizers should be praised for collectively funding anti-doping efforts capable of uncovering doping violations committed by elite athletes in their races."