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Female long-distance global champion the athlete has been banned for three years after the Kenyan acknowledged anti-doping infractions.

Chepngetich was provisionally suspended in July following a failed test for a banned substance - a prohibited substance often utilized as a concealing drug - on March 14.

Chepngetich's accomplishments which pre-date that test - such as her global best performance of two hours, nine minutes and 56 seconds in Chicago in 2024 - will remain valid.

The sports governing body had sought a four-year suspension but the runner's penalty was reduced to 36 months because she confessed to the violations.

However, the AIU will continue to investigate proof from Chepngetich's mobile device which it found suggest "strong grounds that her positive test may have been deliberate" - including messages from as early as 2022.

"The case concerning the failed test for the substance has been settled, but the AIU will continue to investigate the suspicious material recovered from the runner's phone to determine if any other violations have occurred."

'No one is exempt from regulations'

When questioned in April by the integrity body, the marathoner, the initial female to run a marathon in less than 2 hours 10 minutes, could not provide an reason for the failed test.

While the substance has a lowest detectable limit of 20 nanograms per millilitre (ng/mL) in urine, the athlete's test showed an approximate level of 3,800 ng/mL.

Traces of the diuretic under the minimal reporting level were also found in a sample collected from the runner two weeks earlier, on 28 February.

At a subsequent meeting on 11 July, the record holder was presented with the previously mentioned suspicious evidence obtained from her mobile. Meanwhile, accidental exposure had also been disproven by the authority.

The athlete altered her story on July 31, claiming that she had taken her housemaid's medication - marked as being the banned substance - after becoming ill 48 hours prior to the failed test.

The AIU had "serious reservations about the reliability of the revised account" and, in the context of the athletics' anti-doping regulations, such "carelessness" is deemed "implied intention, for which an increased four-year penalty is applicable".

An standard 12-month decrease was granted after the runner admitted the doping breaches inside the specified 20-day period.

The three-year ban commenced on 19 April - when the athlete agreed to a voluntary provisional suspension - with the runner's results, awards, titles, participation and prize money from 14 March lost.

"Nobody is exempt from regulations."

"While unfortunate for those who had faith in this athlete, this is how the system is designed to operate."

"The road-running industry should be praised for jointly supporting anti-doping efforts able to uncovering substance abuses committed by top competitors in their races."