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

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

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

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) had sought a 48-month suspension but the runner's penalty was lowered to 36 months because she admitted to the violations.

Nonetheless, the AIU will continue to investigate proof from Chepngetich's phone which it found indicate "strong grounds that her failed test may have been deliberate" - featuring messages from as early as the year 2022.

"The case concerning the positive test for the substance has been resolved, but the unit will keep looking into the suspicious material recovered from Chepngetich's phone to ascertain if any other violations have occurred."

'No one is exempt from regulations'

When interviewed in the fourth month by the AIU, Chepngetich, the initial female to complete a marathon in under 2:10, was unable to give an explanation for the failed test.

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

Traces of the diuretic under the detection threshold were also identified in a test collected from the runner 14 days prior, on February 28.

At a subsequent meeting on 11 July, the record holder was shown the aforementioned suspicious evidence obtained from her mobile. In the meantime, contamination had also been disproven by the AIU.

Chepngetich altered her story on July 31, claiming that she had used her domestic worker's pills - marked as being the banned substance - after becoming ill two days before the positive test.

The AIU had "serious reservations about the credibility of the revised account" and, in the context of the sport's anti-doping rules, such "recklessness" is considered "indirect intent, for which an longer 48-month penalty is applicable".

An automatic one-year reduction was applied after Chepngetich confessed to the anti-doping rule violations inside the specified 20-day period.

The 36-month suspension commenced on April 19 - when the athlete agreed to a voluntary provisional suspension - with the runner's performances, awards, titles, participation and prize money from 14 March lost.

"No one is above the rules."

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

"The road-running industry should be commended for collectively funding anti-doping efforts capable of revealing substance abuses committed by top competitors in their races."