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Female long-distance global champion the athlete has been suspended for 36 months after the runner confessed to doping rule violations.

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

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

The sports governing body had requested a 48-month ban but the runner's penalty was reduced to 36 months because she confessed to the violations.

However, the AIU will continue to investigate evidence from the athlete's mobile device which it found suggest "strong grounds that her positive test may have been intentional" - including communications dating back to 2022.

"The case regarding the positive test for HCTZ has been settled, but the unit will keep looking into the suspicious material found on the runner's device to ascertain if any further infractions have taken place."

'Nobody is above the rules'

When questioned in the fourth month by the AIU, the marathoner, the initial female to complete a marathon in less than 2 hours 10 minutes, could not provide an reason for the positive test.

While HCTZ has a lowest detectable limit of 20 ng/mL in samples, the athlete's test showed an estimated concentration of 3800 ng/mL.

Small amounts of HCTZ below the minimal reporting level were also identified in a test taken from the runner two weeks earlier, on 28 February.

At a subsequent meeting on July 11, the record holder was shown the aforementioned suspicious evidence obtained from her phone. In the meantime, accidental exposure had also been ruled out by the authority.

Chepngetich changed her explanation on July 31, stating that she had taken her domestic worker's medication - marked as being the banned substance - after falling sick 48 hours prior to the positive test.

The AIU had "serious reservations about the reliability of the revised account" and, in the context of the athletics' anti-doping rules, such "recklessness" is deemed "implied intention, for which an longer 48-month sanction is applicable".

An automatic one-year reduction was applied after the runner confessed to the anti-doping breaches within the specified 20-day period.

The three-year ban started on 19 April - when the athlete accepted a voluntary provisional suspension - with the competitor's results, honors, titles, participation and earnings since March 14 forfeited.

"No one is exempt from regulations."

"Although disappointing for those who put their trust in this runner, this is how the system is supposed to work."

"Marathon organizers should be commended for collectively funding anti-doping efforts able to revealing substance abuses committed by top competitors in their events."