Long-distance running Record Holder Chepngetich Receives Three-Year Suspension

Women's marathon global champion the athlete has been suspended for three years after the Kenyan acknowledged anti-doping rule violations.

The record holder was temporarily banned in July following a positive test for Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) - a prohibited substance often utilized as a concealing drug - on 14 March.

Chepngetich's achievements which pre-date that sample - such as her global best performance of 2:09:56 in the Chicago event in 2024 - will remain valid.

The sports governing body had sought a 48-month ban but the runner's punishment was lowered to three years because she admitted to the violations.

However, the integrity unit will continue to investigate proof from Chepngetich's phone which it found suggest "strong grounds that her positive test may have been intentional" - including communications from as early as 2022.

"The case concerning the positive test for HCTZ has been resolved, but the unit will continue to investigate the questionable evidence found on the runner's device to ascertain if any other violations have occurred."

'Nobody is above the rules'

When interviewed in the fourth month by the integrity body, Chepngetich, the first woman to complete a marathon in under 2:10, was unable to give an reason for the failed 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 3,800 ng/mL.

Traces of the diuretic below the detection threshold were also identified in a sample taken 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, contamination had also been ruled out by the authority.

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

The AIU had "major doubts about the credibility of the new version of events" and, in the context of the athletics' anti-doping regulations, such "recklessness" is considered "indirect intent, for which an increased four-year sanction applies".

An automatic one-year reduction was granted after the runner confessed to the doping rule violations within the specified 20-day period.

The three-year ban started on April 19 - when Chepngetich accepted a voluntary provisional suspension - with the runner's results, awards, championships, participation and prize money from March 14 forfeited.

"Nobody is exempt from regulations."

"While disappointing 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 uncovering substance abuses committed by elite athletes in their events."