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Female long-distance world record-holder the athlete has been prohibited for three years after the runner admitted to anti-doping rule violations.

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

The athlete's achievements which occurred before that test - including her global best time of two hours, nine minutes and 56 seconds in Chicago in 2024 - will still stand.

The sports governing body had sought a four-year suspension but the runner's punishment was reduced to 36 months because she admitted to the violations.

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

"This matter regarding the positive test for the substance has been resolved, but the unit will continue to investigate the suspicious material recovered from the runner's phone to determine if any other violations have occurred."

'Nobody is above the rules'

When interviewed in April by the integrity body, Chepngetich, the first woman to run a marathon in less than 2 hours 10 minutes, could not provide an explanation for the failed test.

Although HCTZ has a lowest detectable limit of 20 ng/mL in urine, Chepngetich's sample showed an estimated concentration of 3800 ng/mL.

Small amounts of the diuretic under the detection threshold were also found in a test collected from Chepngetich two weeks earlier, on February 28.

At a subsequent meeting on 11 July, the record holder was presented with the previously mentioned questionable proof obtained from her phone. In the meantime, accidental exposure had also been disproven by the AIU.

Chepngetich changed her explanation on July 31, claiming that she had taken her domestic worker's medication - marked as being HCTZ - after falling sick two days before the positive test.

The unit had "major doubts about the credibility of the revised account" and, in the framework of the sport's doping rules, such "recklessness" is deemed "implied intention, for which an longer 48-month penalty is applicable".

An automatic one-year reduction was granted after the runner confessed to the doping rule violations within the specified 20-day period.

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 forfeited.

"Nobody is above the rules."

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

"The road-running industry should be praised for jointly supporting anti-doping efforts capable of revealing substance abuses committed by elite athletes in their races."