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Female long-distance world record-holder the athlete has been suspended for 36 months after the runner acknowledged doping rule violations.

Chepngetich was provisionally suspended in July following a failed test for Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) - a prohibited substance often utilized as a masking agent - on 14 March.

Chepngetich's achievements which pre-date that test - such as her global best performance of two hours, nine minutes and 56 seconds in the Chicago event in 2024 - will still stand.

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) had requested a 48-month ban but the runner's penalty was reduced to 36 months because she admitted to the violations.

However, the integrity unit will keep examining proof from Chepngetich's phone which it found indicate "a reasonable suspicion that her positive test may have been deliberate" - including communications from as early as the year 2022.

"The case concerning the failed test for the substance has been resolved, but the AIU will continue to investigate the suspicious material found on Chepngetich's device to ascertain if any further infractions have taken place."

'No one is exempt from regulations'

When interviewed in the fourth month by the AIU, Chepngetich, the first woman to run a marathon in under 2:10, could not provide an reason for the positive test.

While the substance has a minimum reporting level of 20 ng/mL in urine, Chepngetich's sample showed an approximate level of 3800 ng/mL.

Small amounts of HCTZ below the detection threshold were also identified in a test collected from the runner two weeks earlier, on February 28.

At a subsequent meeting on 11 July, Chepngetich was shown the previously mentioned questionable proof acquired from her phone. In the meantime, contamination had also been disproven by the AIU.

The athlete altered her story on July 31, stating that she had taken her housemaid's pills - marked as being the banned substance - after falling sick two days before the positive test.

The unit had "serious reservations about the reliability of the new version of events" and, in the framework of the sport's anti-doping regulations, such "carelessness" is deemed "implied intention, for which an increased four-year sanction is applicable".

An standard 12-month decrease was applied after Chepngetich confessed to the anti-doping breaches inside the specified 20-day period.

The three-year ban commenced on April 19 - when Chepngetich accepted a temporary ban - with the runner's results, awards, titles, appearance and earnings since March 14 forfeited.

"No one is above the rules."

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

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