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Female long-distance global champion the athlete has been suspended for 36 months after the Kenyan confessed to doping rule violations.

The record holder was provisionally suspended in the seventh month following a positive test for a banned substance - a prohibited substance used commonly as a masking agent - on March 14.

The athlete's achievements which occurred before that test - such as her global best time of 2:09:56 in Chicago in 2024 - will still stand.

The sports governing body had sought a 48-month ban but the runner's punishment was reduced to three years because she confessed to the infractions.

However, the integrity unit will keep examining evidence from the athlete's phone which it found suggest "strong grounds that her failed test may have been intentional" - featuring messages from as early as the year 2022.

"This matter concerning the failed test for HCTZ has been settled, but the AIU will continue to investigate the questionable evidence found on the runner's phone to determine if any further infractions have occurred."

'Nobody is above the rules'

When interviewed in the fourth month by the AIU, the marathoner, the initial female to complete a marathon in under 2:10, could not provide an reason for the failed test.

Although the substance has a lowest detectable limit of 20 nanograms per millilitre (ng/mL) in samples, Chepngetich's test showed an estimated concentration of 3,800 ng/mL.

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

At a subsequent meeting on 11 July, the record holder was presented with the aforementioned questionable proof acquired from her mobile. Meanwhile, contamination had also been ruled out by the authority.

The athlete altered her story on July 31, claiming that she had taken her housemaid's pills - marked as being HCTZ - after falling sick 48 hours prior to the positive test.

The unit had "serious reservations about the credibility of the revised account" and, in the framework of the sport's doping regulations, such "recklessness" is deemed "implied intention, for which an increased four-year sanction is applicable".

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

The three-year ban started on 19 April - when Chepngetich agreed to a temporary ban - with the runner's results, honors, championships, participation and prize money since 14 March lost.

"Nobody is above the rules."

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

"Marathon organizers should be commended for collectively funding anti-doping efforts capable of uncovering substance abuses committed by elite athletes in their races."