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Long-distance running Champion Ruth Chepngetich Receives Three-Year Suspension
The Kenyan runner exceeded the previous Tigst Assefa's women's marathon world record by about 120 seconds at the Chicago Marathon in the year 2024.
Female long-distance world record-holder the athlete has been suspended for three years after the Kenyan acknowledged doping rule violations.
The record holder was temporarily banned in July following a failed test for Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) - a banned diuretic used commonly as a masking agent - on 14 March.
The athlete's achievements which occurred before that sample - such as her world record performance of two hours, nine minutes and 56 seconds in Chicago in October 2024 - will still stand.
The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) had sought a four-year ban but the runner's punishment was lowered to three years because she admitted to the violations.
Nonetheless, the integrity unit will continue to investigate proof from the athlete's phone which it found indicate "strong grounds that her positive test may have been intentional" - featuring messages dating back to the year 2022.
"This matter concerning the failed test for the substance has been resolved, but the unit will keep looking into the questionable evidence recovered from the runner's device to determine if any further infractions have occurred."
'Nobody is above the rules'
When interviewed in April by the AIU, Chepngetich, the first woman to complete a marathon in under 2:10, could not provide an reason for the failed test.
While the substance has a minimum reporting level of 20 ng/mL in urine, Chepngetich's test showed an approximate level of 3800 ng/mL.
Small amounts of the diuretic below the detection threshold were also found in a test taken from the runner 14 days prior, on 28 February.
At a subsequent meeting on July 11, Chepngetich was shown the previously mentioned questionable proof obtained from her phone. Meanwhile, accidental exposure had also been disproven by the authority.
The athlete altered her story on July 31, claiming that she had used her domestic worker's medication - labeled as being HCTZ - after falling sick two days before the failed test.
The unit had "serious reservations about the reliability of the revised account" and, in the context of the athletics' anti-doping regulations, such "recklessness" is deemed "implied intention, for which an longer 48-month sanction is applicable".
An automatic one-year reduction was applied after the runner confessed to the doping rule violations within the specified 20-day period.
The 36-month suspension commenced on 19 April - when the athlete agreed to a temporary ban - with the competitor's results, honors, titles, participation and earnings since 14 March lost.
"Nobody is exempt from regulations."
"Although unfortunate for those who put their trust in this athlete, this is how the system is supposed to work."
"The road-running industry should be praised for jointly supporting doping prevention capable of uncovering doping violations committed by top competitors in their events."
James Shepherd
A seasoned business strategist with over a decade of experience in digital marketing and corporate growth initiatives.
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