Emma Bates never got her moment.
In 2021, Bates ran the race of her life at the Chicago Marathon, placing second behind Kenya’s Ruth Chepngetich in a breakthrough performance.
At the time, Chepngetich was one of the fastest marathoners in the world, known for her aggressive racing style and staggering splits. The win in Chicago was her second World Marathon Major title, and she would go on to set the marathon world record in the same city three years later.
But that legacy has now come under fire.
Last week, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) provisionally suspended Chepngetich after she tested positive for hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ), a banned diuretic often used as a masking agent to conceal the use of performance-enhancing drugs.
The result came from a March 14 out-of-competition sample, which revealed 3,800 nanograms per milliliter of the substance, an amount nearly 200 times higher than the 20 ng/mL reporting threshold set by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
Bates, like many in the elite running community, is still processing the implications.
“I was flooded with what felt a lot like grief,” she wrote in a recent Instagram post. “Is this life or death? No, but it is my career.”
She acknowledged the emotional toll of learning that an athlete she once stood on the podium with may not have been competing clean.
“Wouldn’t anybody be overwhelmed with emotions if they were (potentially) cheated out of a position or moment by an individual who isn’t playing by the rules?” she added. “Of course we all would be.”
Bates wasn’t alone in that frustration. American record-holder Emily Sisson, who also finished second behind Chepngetich in the 2022 edition of the Chicago Marathon, now faces similar doubts.
While Chepngetich’s positive test came from a 2025 sample, not from either of her Chicago victories, the questions linger. There is currently no indication that Chepngetich will be stripped of those earlier titles, including her world-record 2:09:56 marathon in 2024, which still stands on the books.
Bates says she’s not necessarily asking for retroactive disqualifications. But she is asking people to consider the full picture, especially in cases where suspicious patterns seem to repeat.
“We may never have proof that Ruth was cheating when she won the 2021 Chicago Marathon or during her other global wins,” she wrote, “but it’s difficult to imagine that Ruth and her disgraced agent, Federico Rosa, discovered banned substances only after her major global wins.”
The mention of Rosa is not accidental.
The longtime Italian agent has represented several athletes who’ve faced doping bans over the years, including Rita Jeptoo, Jemima Sumgong, and Asbel Kiprop. In 2016, he was arrested by Kenyan authorities as part of a broader investigation into doping but was later released and never charged.
While no direct link has been made between Rosa and any doping scheme, his name has repeatedly surfaced in connection with banned athletes, a track record that continues to cast a shadow over the athletes he represents.
Chepngetich now awaits the outcome of a disciplinary process that could lead to a ban of up to two years, depending on whether she contests the violation or accepts the sanction. In the meantime, the damage to trust in the sport, particularly among fellow professionals, is already being felt.
“There are few incentives for athletes not to cut corners,” Bates wrote, pointing out that banned runners often get to keep prize money, appearance fees, and glory of standing atop the podium. “The system is broken, and there is no accountability.”
Her message struck a chord with many fans and fellow runners, this isn’t just about one athlete, one race, or even one doping case. It’s about the growing sense that elite distance running’s integrity is slipping, and that the people hurt most aren’t always the ones who break the rules, but the ones who follow them and come in second.
