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Women's marathon world record-holder the athlete has been banned for three years after the Kenyan acknowledged anti-doping infractions.

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

The athlete's achievements which pre-date that test - including her world record time of two hours, nine minutes and 56 seconds in the Chicago event in 2024 - will still stand.

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

Nonetheless, the integrity unit will continue to investigate proof from the athlete's mobile device which it found indicate "strong grounds that her positive test may have been deliberate" - including messages dating back to 2022.

"The case regarding the positive test for the substance has been settled, but the AIU will keep looking into the questionable evidence found on Chepngetich's phone to determine if any further infractions have taken place."

'Nobody is above the rules'

When questioned in the fourth month 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.

While the substance has a minimum reporting level of 20 nanograms per millilitre (ng/mL) in samples, the athlete'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 the runner two weeks earlier, on February 28.

At a subsequent meeting on July 11, Chepngetich was shown the previously mentioned suspicious evidence acquired from her phone. In the meantime, accidental exposure had also been ruled out by the authority.

Chepngetich changed her explanation on 31 July, stating that she had used her housemaid's pills - marked as being the banned substance - after falling sick 48 hours prior to the failed test.

The AIU had "serious reservations about the credibility of the new version of events" and, in the framework of the athletics' anti-doping rules, such "recklessness" is deemed "implied intention, for which an longer 48-month penalty applies".

An automatic one-year reduction was applied after Chepngetich admitted the doping breaches within the specified 20-day period.

The three-year ban commenced on 19 April - when Chepngetich agreed to a temporary ban - with the runner's results, awards, championships, appearance and earnings from March 14 lost.

"No one is exempt from regulations."

"Although unfortunate for those who had faith in this runner, this is how the process is supposed to work."

"The road-running industry should be praised for collectively funding doping prevention able to revealing substance abuses committed by top competitors in their races."