Ruth Chepngetich, Kenya’s marathon world record holder, has been banned for three years after admitting to doping, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) announced on Thursday.
The 31-year-old, a former world marathon champion and a three-time winner of the Chicago Marathon, tested positive for the banned diuretic hydrochlorothiazide in March, and had been provisionally banned from July.
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“Women’s marathon world record-holder, Ruth Chepng’etich, has been banned for three years by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), after admitting to Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) regarding the presence and use of Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ),” AIU confirmed in a statement.
“The 31-year-old Kenyan, a former World marathon champion and a three-time winner of the Chicago Marathon, accepted the charges and sanction following a positive test for the banned diuretic from a sample on 14 March this year and a subsequent AIU investigation into the circumstances,” AIU added.
Ruth Chepngetich handed 3-year ban for doping
The March 14 test showed that Chepngetich had 190 times the allowed limit of HCTZ in her positive urine sample.
The athlete at first denied all knowledge of having taken the diuretic, with the AIU saying “that she could not explain the positive test”, with Chepngetich maintaining that she had never doped.
But she later changed that explanation, instead saying she had taken her “housemaid’s medication” as a treatment after falling ill two days before the positive test – an incident that she claimed she had failed to disclose to AIU investigators.
The AIU said it considered her new explanation “to be hardly credible”.
“The case regarding the positive test for HCTZ has been resolved, but the AIU will continue to investigate the suspicious material recovered from Chepngetich’s phone to determine if any other violations have occurred,” said AIU head Brett Clothier.
All Chepngetich’s achievements and records pre-dating the March 14, 2025, sample stand, Clothier confirmed.
Who is Ruth Chepngetich?
Chepngetich is a Kenyan runner who has won several road races at individual and international level.
The 30-year-old set the current marathon world record of 2:09.56 at the 2024 Chicago Marathon.
Besides winning the 2024 Chicago Marathon, Chepngetich also clinched the coveted title in 2021 and 2022. She finished third at the same event in 2023.
At international level, Chepngetich won a gold medal for Kenya at the 2019 World Athletics Championships that was held in Doha, Qatar.
She was also the first woman to break the 2:11 and 2:10 barriers in the marathon.
Doping in Kenya
Chepngetich’s ban is the latest in a long line for Kenyan athletes, including other high-profile figures such as 2016 Olympic marathon champion Jemima Sumgong.
At least 140 Kenyan runners have been suspended by the AIU since 2017 – the most of any nation.
Following numerous scandals, Kenya has invested millions to tackle doping problems.
But the government last year cut funding for its anti-doping agency by nearly half, following protests over the national budget.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said earlier this month that Kenya had made “significant and demonstrable progress” towards cleaning up its systems, delaying a threatened non-compliance order.
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