FRESH: Marathon Record Holder Ruth Chepngetich Given 3-Year Ban For Doping Violation
Women’s marathon world record holder, Ruth Chepngetich has been banned for three years after testing positive for a prohibited substance earlier this year, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) has announced.
Chepngetich tested positive for Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ), a diuretic used to treat fluid retention and hypertension, in a sample collected on March 14 and subsequently accepted a provisional suspension. According to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), diuretics like HCTZ can be used to mask or flush previously taken prohibited substances from an athlete’s system.
The three-year ban was reduced from a potential four years after the Kenyan athlete admitted to the doping violation. Chepngetich is now eligible to compete again in April 2028. Her results since March 14 have been disqualified, but her marathon world record of two hours, nine minutes, and 56 seconds, set in Chicago last year, will still stand.
The 31-year-old is a three-time Chicago Marathon winner and holds a world championships gold medal over the distance from 2019. She became the first woman to run a marathon in under 2:10 last October, surpassing the previous record set by Ethiopia’s Tigist Assefa.
According to the AIU, Chepngetich initially could not provide an explanation for the positive test during interviews in April and July, maintaining that she “had never doped,” even when shown evidence from her phone suggesting the positive test “may have been intentional.” Later that month, Chepngetich wrote to the AIU, claiming she had taken her housemaid’s medication after feeling unwell two days before the positive test but forgot to disclose this to investigators.
The AIU stated that this explanation was “hardly credible,” describing it as the sort of “recklessness” that amounts to “indirect intent” and warrants a four-year suspension. Her sanction was reduced by a year after she accepted the penalty within 20 days. An estimated concentration of 3800ng/ml of HCTZ was found in the positive urine sample from March, significantly exceeding the minimum reporting limit of 20ng/ml.
Brett Clothier, head of the AIU, confirmed that while the case regarding the positive test for HCTZ has been resolved, the AIU will continue to investigate the suspicious material recovered from Chepngetich’s phone to determine if any other violations have occurred.
AIU chair David Howman emphasized that this case highlights how “nobody is above the rules” when it comes to doping violations.
