Ruth Chepngetich, the Kenyan marathoner who just last year shattered the women’s world record in Chicago with a 2:09:56 performance, has been handed a three-year ban for a doping violation.
The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) confirmed the sanction Thursday, stating that Chepngetich had tested positive for hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ), a banned diuretic that is often used to mask other performance-enhancing substances.
The news marks a stunning fall from grace for one of distance running’s most dominant athletes.
The AIU has banned Ruth Chepng’etich (Kenya) for 3 years from 19 April 2025 for the Presence/Use of a Prohibited Substance (Hydrochlorothiazide). DQ results from 14 March 2025.
— Athletics Integrity Unit (@aiu_athletics) October 23, 2025
Details here: https://t.co/RcCvVdqd59https://t.co/xMfjO7gxJshttps://t.co/juFqZJbebz pic.twitter.com/GxHB7RVUIS
Timeline of Events in Ruth Chepngetich’s Doping Case
- Oct. 13, 2024: Chepngetich wins the Chicago Marathon in a stunning 2:09:56, lowering the world record by nearly two minutes and her personal best by over four minutes.
- Jan. 5, 2025: Announced as a headliner for the 2025 London Marathon, set to race Tigist Assefa and Peres Jepchirchir.
- March 9, 2025: Finishes second at the Lisbon Half Marathon in 1:06:20, a tune-up race for London.
- April 16, 2025: Chepngetich is notified of a positive drug test for hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ), with levels measuring 3,800 ng/mL (limit is 20 ng/mL).
- She submits her medications and supplements for lab analysis — all test negative for HCTZ.
- The AIU copies and analyzes her phone as part of the investigation.
- April 19, 2025: London Marathon announces Chepngetich has withdrawn, citing an “unspecified injury.”
- July 11, 2025: In a follow-up interview, the AIU presents phone data, including WhatsApp messages and images suggesting potential doping links. Chepngetich still denies wrongdoing.
- July 17, 2025: The AIU issues a provisional suspension for her HCTZ violation.
- July 31, 2025: She changes her explanation, saying she accidentally took her housemaid’s medication containing HCTZ.
- The AIU calls the story “hardly credible.”
- Sept. 10, 2025: Chepngetich accepts a three-year ban, reduced from four years due to cooperation.
- Her world record from Chicago still stands, pending further review.
What the AIU Found on Her Phone
- April 14, 2024: Message from another athlete shows testosterone vials and asks,
“[Name] was told about it, so he asked me to ask you how it works.”- Chepngetich claims she didn’t engage with the message and may have taken a screenshot by accident.
- April 29, 2024: Image of Anavar, an anabolic steroid, appears in her saved photos. She says it may have come from an unsolicited group chat.
- 2022–2025: Additional messages referencing third parties working on “programs”, potentially doping-related.
- Chepngetich says these were unsolicited group messages and denies involvement.
The AIU says it will continue to investigate these materials for possible additional violations.
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Chepngetich’s positive test was taken on March 14, five days after she finished second at the Lisbon Half Marathon in 1:06:20. According to the AIU, her urine sample contained 3,800 nanograms per milliliter of HCTZ, a staggering 190 times the allowable limit under World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) guidelines.
Initially, the 31-year-old denied any wrongdoing. She told investigators she had no idea how the substance entered her system and maintained that she had “never doped.” But when the AIU dug deeper, analyzing her phone and conducting a second interview, investigators found more troubling signs.
They recovered WhatsApp messages that included images of testosterone vials and exchanges with unidentified third parties allegedly discussing doping “programs,” some dating back as far as 2022.
Still, Chepngetich stood by her story until July 31, when she changed her explanation. In a letter to the AIU, she said she had become ill two days before the test and had taken her housemaid’s medication without checking what it was. She later sent a photo of the packaging, which was clearly labeled as hydrochlorothiazide.
The AIU called her new story “hardly credible” and argued that it showed a level of recklessness qualifying as “indirect intent.” That escalated the typical two-year ban to a potential four-year sanction, though Chepngetich accepted the charges within the AIU’s 20-day window and received a one-year reduction.
All of her results prior to March 14, 2025, including her Chicago Marathon world record, currently remain valid. The AIU noted that while the HCTZ case is resolved, they are still investigating the additional material found on her phone.
“The case regarding the positive test for HCTZ has been resolved,” said AIU head Brett Clothier, “but the AIU will continue to investigate the suspicious material recovered from Chepngetich’s phone to determine if any other violations have occurred.”
The announcement comes as another blow to Kenya’s already embattled anti-doping efforts. Since 2017, more than 140 Kenyan athletes have been suspended, more than any other nation. Notable names on that list include Olympic champion Jemima Sumgong and former Boston and Chicago winner Rita Jeptoo.
Despite public commitments and financial investment into clean sport, the Kenyan government cut its anti-doping agency’s budget by nearly half last year, raising red flags globally.
In response, WADA recently announced that Kenya had made “significant and demonstrable progress” and stopped short of issuing a non-compliance order. But Chepngetich’s case casts fresh doubt on the sport’s ability to police itself at the highest levels.
Her 2:09:56 marathon in Chicago was immediately hailed as a landmark moment. She became the first woman ever to break 2:10, smashing the previous record by nearly two minutes. But not everyone was convinced. In the months that followed, her performances dipped sharply.
She finished second at Spain’s San Silvestre Vallecana 10K in 31:32, notably slower than the pace she held during her marathon. Then came her Lisbon half, followed by a quiet withdrawal from the 2025 London Marathon, citing mental and physical fatigue. That withdrawal came just one day before her provisional suspension began.
Now, with a three-year ban officially in place through 2028, her future in the sport is uncertain. And while her name still sits atop the record books for now, the legacy of her performance, like so many others in recent years, feels more complicated than ever.
