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Kenya's women's marathon world record-holder Ruth Chepng'etich has received a three-year doping ban after admitting to violating anti-doping regulations.
Chepng'etich was provisionally suspended from competition in July after testing positive for banned substance hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ), a diuretic which helps to reduce the amount of water in the body by increasing the flow of urine.
The 31-year-old will however be able to see her mammoth marathon time of 2:09:56secs set during last October's Chicago Marathon stand, due to her positive test being returned in March of this year.
The Kenyan athlete had beaten the previously world record time by a staggering two minutes in the United States.
This spring saw Chepng'etich withdraw from the London Marathon, stating that she was 'not in the right place mentally or physically', but it later became clear she had instead opted to voluntarily take a provisional suspension.
Chepng'etich first denied wrongdoing, although she could not provide a reason for why she had returned a positive test amid investigation and analysis into her phone details, medications, and supplements by the Athletics Integrity United (AIU).
Ruth Chepng'etich has been banned from competition for three years after returning a positive drugs test
The distance runner's positive sample returned an HCTZ concentration of 3,800ng/mL, which is some way over the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) minimum reporting limit of 20ng/mL.
Two weeks after her provisional suspension was announced over the summer, Chepng'etich changed her explanation and instead suggested that she had taken her housekeeper's medication when sick.
AIU noted that she had 'forgotten to disclose' doing so in a statement, adding that her actions were 'reckless and indirectly intentional' rather than accidental.
An initial four-year ban was reduced to three years on the basis of Chepng'etich's early admission of responsibility.
'The case regarding the positive test for HCTZ has been resolved but the AIU will continue to investigate the suspicious material recovered from Chepng'etich's phone to determine if any other violations have occurred,' AIU head Brett Clothier said.
'In the meantime, all Chepng'etich's achievements and records pre-dating the 14 March 2025 sample stand.'
After winning the Chicago Marathon, Chepng'etich earned around £74,500 and a further £37,300 for breaking the record, averaging an astonishing 4:57.4 per mile.
Chepng'etich's ban comes after Athletics Kenya pledged $5million per year for five years to fight doping in its sport.
2024 saw former Tokyo Marathon winner Chepchirchir handed an eight-year ban after she violated anti-doping regulations a second time in returning an adverse finding for testosteron.
Earlier this year, 2024 Sydney Marathon winner Brimin Kipkorir was provisionally suspended by the AIU after he returned a positive test.
