Long-distance running Champion Ruth Chepngetich Receives 36-month Ban

Female long-distance global champion Ruth Chepngetich has been suspended for three years after the Kenyan acknowledged doping rule violations.

Chepngetich was temporarily banned in July following a failed test for Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) - a banned diuretic used commonly as a concealing drug - on March 14.

Chepngetich's achievements which pre-date that test - such as her global best time of two hours, nine minutes and 56 seconds in Chicago in 2024 - will remain valid.

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

Nonetheless, the AIU will keep examining proof from Chepngetich's mobile device which it found suggest "strong grounds that her positive test may have been intentional" - including messages from as early as 2022.

"This matter regarding the failed test for the substance has been settled, but the AIU will continue to investigate the suspicious material found on the runner's phone to ascertain if any other violations have taken place."

'Nobody is above the rules'

When questioned in the fourth month by the AIU, the marathoner, the first woman to run a marathon in under 2:10, was unable to give an explanation for the positive test.

While HCTZ has a minimum reporting level of 20 ng/mL in urine, Chepngetich's sample showed an approximate level of 3,800 ng/mL.

Traces of the diuretic under the minimal reporting level were also found in a test taken from Chepngetich two weeks earlier, on 28 February.

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

Chepngetich changed her explanation on July 31, stating that she had taken her housemaid's medication - marked as being the banned substance - after becoming ill 48 hours prior to the failed test.

The unit had "serious reservations about the credibility of the revised account" and, in the framework of the athletics' doping rules, such "carelessness" is deemed "indirect intent, for which an longer 48-month sanction applies".

An standard 12-month decrease was granted after Chepngetich admitted the anti-doping breaches inside the specified 20-day period.

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

"Nobody is above the rules."

"Although unfortunate for those who put their trust in this runner, this is how the system is designed to operate."

"Marathon organizers should be praised for collectively funding doping prevention capable of revealing doping violations performed by elite athletes in their races."