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

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

The athlete's achievements which pre-date that sample - including her world record performance of 2:09:56 in Chicago in October 2024 - will still stand.

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) had sought a four-year suspension but the 31-year-old penalty was reduced to three years because she confessed to the violations.

Nonetheless, the AIU will keep examining evidence from Chepngetich's phone which it found suggest "strong grounds that her positive test may have been intentional" - featuring communications from as early as the year 2022.

"This matter regarding the failed test for the substance has been resolved, but the unit will continue to investigate the suspicious material found on the runner's phone 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 first woman to run a marathon in less than 2 hours 10 minutes, could not provide an explanation for the positive test.

While the substance has a minimum reporting level of 20 nanograms per millilitre (ng/mL) in samples, the athlete's sample showed an estimated concentration of 3,800 ng/mL.

Small amounts of the diuretic under the minimal reporting level were also found in a test collected from the runner two weeks earlier, on 28 February.

At a subsequent meeting on 11 July, Chepngetich was presented with the aforementioned questionable proof acquired from her phone. Meanwhile, accidental exposure had also been disproven by the AIU.

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

The AIU had "serious reservations about the credibility of the new version of events" and, in the framework of the athletics' anti-doping regulations, such "carelessness" is deemed "implied intention, for which an increased four-year sanction applies".

An standard 12-month decrease was applied after the runner confessed to the anti-doping rule violations inside the 20 days required.

The 36-month suspension commenced on April 19 - when the athlete agreed to a temporary ban - with the runner's performances, awards, championships, appearance and earnings from 14 March lost.

"Nobody is exempt from regulations."

"While unfortunate for those who put their trust in this athlete, this is how the system is supposed to work."

"The road-running industry should be commended for jointly supporting anti-doping efforts able to uncovering substance abuses performed by elite athletes in their events."