The distance-runner became the first female athlete in history to run a marathon in under two hours and 10 minutes
Ruth Chepng’etich, the current women’s world marathon record-holder, has been provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit.
The Kenyan, who won last year’s Chicago Marathon in a record-breaking 2:09:56, tested positive for hydrochlorothiazide on March 14.
Hydrochlorothiazide is a diuretic and used clinically to treat fluid retention and hypertension. It is listed as a prohibited substance under the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) code and may be abused to mask the presence in urine for banned drugs. The standard sanction for a positive HCTZ test is a two-year ban.
Under WADA’s technical requirements for laboratories, HCTZ has a minimum reporting level of 20 ng/mL in urine, meaning findings below this concentration are reported as negative. The AIU state that Chepng’etich had an estimated concentration of 3800 ng/mL in her urine.
After the AIU received Chepng’etich’s positive sample on March 14, a ‘notice of charge’ was issued against the 30-year-old, following an investigation into the Kenyan athlete’s positive test on April 3.
Chepng’etich was notified and interviewed in person by the AIU in Kenya on April 16. Two days later, the Kenyan announced that she was withdrawing from the TCS London Marathon because she “wasn’t in the right place mentally or physically to race my best”.
Brett Clothier, head of the AIU, said: “When there is a positive test for diuretics and masking agents, a provisional suspension is not mandatory under the World Anti-Doping Code. Chepng’etich was not provisionally suspended by the AIU at the time of notification, but on April 19, she opted for a voluntary provisional suspension while the AIU’s investigation was ongoing.”
After continuing its own investigation during that period, the AIU has now issued its own provisional suspension.
The distance-runner has only competed once this year – she placed second with 66:20 at the Lisbon Half Marathon – and that was five days before her positive test on March 14.
She is the sixth Kenyan to be provisionally suspended by the AIU this year after Ronald Kimeli Kurgat, Kibiwott Kandie, Sheila Chelangat, Benard Kibet Koech and Morine Gesare Michira.
Chepng’etich has the right for her case to be heard before a disciplinary tribunal.
