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Female long-distance world record-holder the athlete has been prohibited for 36 months after the Kenyan admitted to anti-doping rule violations.

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

The athlete's accomplishments which occurred before that test - including her world record performance of 2:09:56 in Chicago in October 2024 - will still stand.

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) had requested a 48-month ban but the 31-year-old punishment was lowered to 36 months because she confessed to the infractions.

However, the AIU will continue to investigate proof from the athlete's phone which it found indicate "strong grounds 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 settled, but the unit will continue to investigate the suspicious material recovered from Chepngetich's device to ascertain if any further infractions have occurred."

'No one is exempt from regulations'

When questioned in the fourth month by the AIU, the marathoner, the first woman to complete 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 nanograms per millilitre (ng/mL) in urine, the athlete's test showed an estimated concentration of 3,800 ng/mL.

Small amounts 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, Chepngetich was shown the aforementioned questionable proof acquired from her phone. In the meantime, contamination had also been disproven by the AIU.

The athlete altered her story on 31 July, claiming that she had taken her housemaid's medication - labeled as being the banned substance - after becoming ill 48 hours prior to the positive test.

The unit had "major doubts about the reliability of the revised account" and, in the framework of the athletics' anti-doping rules, such "carelessness" is deemed "implied intention, for which an longer 48-month sanction is applicable".

An automatic one-year reduction was granted after the runner admitted the anti-doping breaches inside the specified 20-day period.

The 36-month suspension started on April 19 - when Chepngetich accepted a voluntary provisional suspension - with the competitor's performances, awards, titles, appearance and prize money since March 14 forfeited.

"No one is above the rules."

"While unfortunate for those who had faith 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 capable of uncovering doping violations committed by elite athletes in their events."