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Female long-distance global champion Ruth Chepngetich has been banned for 36 months after the Kenyan admitted to doping infractions.

Chepngetich was temporarily banned in July following a positive test for a banned substance - a prohibited substance used commonly as a concealing drug - on 14 March.

Chepngetich's accomplishments which occurred before that test - including her world record time of two hours, nine minutes and 56 seconds in the Chicago event in 2024 - will still stand.

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

Nonetheless, the AIU will keep examining proof from the athlete's phone which it found suggest "a reasonable suspicion that her failed test may have been deliberate" - including communications from as early as 2022.

"The case concerning the positive test for the substance has been resolved, but the unit will keep looking into the questionable evidence recovered from Chepngetich's phone to determine if any further infractions have occurred."

'Nobody is above the rules'

When questioned in the fourth month by the integrity body, the marathoner, the first woman to complete a marathon in less than 2 hours 10 minutes, was unable to give an explanation for the positive test.

While the substance has a lowest detectable limit of 20 nanograms per millilitre (ng/mL) in urine, the athlete's sample showed an approximate level of 3800 ng/mL.

Traces of the diuretic below the detection threshold were also identified in a sample taken from the runner two weeks earlier, on February 28.

At a later interview on July 11, the record holder was presented with the previously mentioned questionable proof obtained from her mobile. Meanwhile, accidental exposure had also been ruled out by the authority.

Chepngetich changed her explanation on 31 July, stating that she had used her housemaid's medication - marked as being the banned substance - after becoming ill two days before the positive test.

The unit had "serious reservations about the credibility of the new version of events" and, in the context of the sport's doping regulations, such "carelessness" is considered "indirect intent, for which an increased four-year penalty is applicable".

An standard 12-month decrease was applied after the runner admitted the anti-doping rule violations within the specified 20-day period.

The three-year ban started on 19 April - when Chepngetich accepted a temporary ban - with the competitor's performances, honors, titles, participation and prize money since March 14 forfeited.

"No one is exempt from regulations."

"While unfortunate for those who had faith in this runner, this is how the process is designed to operate."

"The road-running industry should be commended for collectively funding doping prevention capable of uncovering substance abuses performed by elite athletes in their events."