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Women's marathon world record-holder Ruth Chepngetich has been banned for 36 months after the Kenyan confessed to anti-doping infractions.

Chepngetich was provisionally suspended in July following a failed test for a banned substance - a banned diuretic often utilized as a masking agent - on March 14.

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

The sports governing body had sought a four-year ban but the runner's penalty was reduced to three years because she admitted to the violations.

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

"This matter concerning the failed test for HCTZ has been resolved, but the AIU will keep looking into the questionable evidence found on Chepngetich's phone to ascertain if any further infractions have taken place."

'No one is exempt from regulations'

When interviewed in the fourth month by the AIU, Chepngetich, the first woman to run a marathon in under 2:10, could not provide an explanation for the failed test.

While the substance has a lowest detectable limit of 20 ng/mL in urine, Chepngetich's test showed an approximate level of 3800 ng/mL.

Small amounts of the diuretic under the minimal reporting level were also found in a sample collected from Chepngetich 14 days prior, on February 28.

At a later interview on July 11, Chepngetich was shown the previously mentioned questionable proof obtained from her phone. Meanwhile, contamination had also been disproven by the AIU.

The athlete changed her explanation on July 31, stating that she had used her domestic worker's pills - labeled as being the banned substance - after falling sick two days before the positive test.

The AIU had "serious reservations about the credibility of the revised account" and, in the framework of the athletics' anti-doping regulations, such "carelessness" is considered "indirect intent, for which an increased four-year sanction is applicable".

An standard 12-month decrease was applied after Chepngetich confessed to the doping breaches within the specified 20-day period.

The 36-month suspension started on April 19 - when the athlete accepted a temporary ban - with the competitor's results, awards, titles, appearance and earnings from March 14 forfeited.

"Nobody is above the rules."

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

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