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

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

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

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

However, the AIU will keep examining proof from the athlete's phone which it found indicate "strong grounds that her positive test may have been deliberate" - featuring messages dating back to 2022.

"This matter regarding the failed test for the substance has been resolved, but the unit will continue to investigate the suspicious material recovered from Chepngetich's device to determine if any further infractions have occurred."

'No one is exempt from regulations'

When interviewed in the fourth month by the integrity body, the marathoner, the first woman to run a marathon in under 2:10, was unable to give an reason for the failed test.

While HCTZ has a minimum reporting level of 20 nanograms per millilitre (ng/mL) in samples, the athlete's sample showed an approximate level of 3800 ng/mL.

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

At a later interview on July 11, the record holder was presented with the previously mentioned questionable proof obtained from her phone. In the meantime, accidental exposure had also been ruled out by the authority.

Chepngetich changed her explanation on 31 July, stating that she had used her housemaid's medication - labeled as being HCTZ - after falling sick two days before the positive test.

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

An automatic one-year reduction was applied after the runner admitted the doping breaches inside the 20 days required.

The three-year ban commenced on 19 April - when Chepngetich agreed to a voluntary provisional suspension - with the competitor's results, honors, championships, appearance and earnings from March 14 forfeited.

"Nobody is exempt from regulations."

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

"Marathon organizers should be commended for collectively funding anti-doping efforts able to revealing doping violations performed by elite athletes in their races."