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Marathon Record Holder Chepngetich Receives Three-Year Suspension
Ruth Chepngetich exceeded the previous Tigst Assefa's female marathon global best by about two minutes at the Chicago Marathon in the year 2024.
Women's marathon global champion Ruth Chepngetich has been banned for three years after the Kenyan confessed to doping infractions.
The record holder was provisionally suspended in the seventh month following a failed test for a banned substance - a prohibited substance used commonly as a masking agent - on 14 March.
Chepngetich's achievements which occurred before that sample - such as her global best 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 penalty was lowered to three years because she admitted to the infractions.
However, the integrity unit will continue to investigate proof from the athlete's phone which it found suggest "strong grounds that her failed test may have been deliberate" - featuring messages from as early as the year 2022.
"The case concerning the failed test for HCTZ has been settled, but the unit will continue to investigate the suspicious material recovered from Chepngetich's phone to determine if any further infractions have taken place."
'No one is exempt from regulations'
When questioned in the fourth month by the AIU, Chepngetich, the first woman to run a marathon in less than 2 hours 10 minutes, was unable to give an explanation for the positive test.
Although HCTZ has a minimum reporting level of 20 ng/mL in samples, Chepngetich's sample showed an approximate level of 3800 ng/mL.
Traces of HCTZ below the minimal reporting level were also found in a test taken from the runner 14 days prior, on February 28.
At a later interview on July 11, the record holder was presented with the aforementioned suspicious evidence obtained from her mobile. In the meantime, contamination had also been ruled out by the authority.
Chepngetich altered her story on July 31, claiming that she had taken her domestic worker's medication - labeled as being HCTZ - after becoming ill two days before the failed test.
The AIU had "serious reservations about the reliability of the revised account" and, in the framework of the sport's doping rules, such "carelessness" is deemed "indirect intent, for which an increased four-year sanction applies".
An automatic one-year reduction was granted after Chepngetich admitted the doping breaches within the specified 20-day period.
The 36-month suspension commenced on April 19 - when the athlete accepted a voluntary provisional suspension - with the runner's performances, honors, championships, appearance and prize money since March 14 forfeited.
"Nobody is above the rules."
"While disappointing for those who put their trust in this athlete, this is how the process is supposed to work."
"The road-running industry should be praised for collectively funding doping prevention able to uncovering substance abuses performed by top competitors in their races."
Rita Jenkins
A financial strategist with over a decade of experience in wealth management and investment planning, dedicated to empowering others.
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