17-07-2025
Fastest women's marathon runner provisionally SUSPENDED after testing positive for banned substance - having beat previous world record time by TWO MINUTES
The fastest female marathon runner in the world has been provisionally suspended for the 'presence and use' of a banned substance.
Kenya's Ruth Chepng'etich, who smashed the world record time by two minutes last October, is under scrutiny or a sample collected on March 14 this year.
The test found hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ), a diuretic which helps to reduce the amount of water in the body by increasing the flow of urine.
Chepng'etich opted for a voluntary provisional suspension in April while an investigation was ongoing, but now the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) has formally imposed a provisional ban.
It has left the long-distance running world in shock after her time of 2:09:56 at the Chicago Marathon last year breezily surpassed any that had ever before been set.
'Chepng'etich was not provisionally suspended by the AIU at the time of notification, however, on 19 April, she opted for a voluntary provisional suspension while the AIU's investigation was ongoing,' said AIU head Brett Clothier.
'In the intervening months, the AIU continued its investigation and today issued a Notice of Charge and imposed its own provisional suspension.'
For a test to come back as positive for HCTZ, the concentration needs to be at least 20 nanograms per milliliter.
Chepng'etich's sample returned an estimated concentration of 3,800 nanograms per millileter.
The AIU said that HCTZ is 'used clinically to treat fluid retention and hypertension.'
It is a class S5 Prohibited Substance, banned at all times, and a Specified Substance. The standard sanction for Specified Substances is two years' ineligibility.
Chepng'etich has the right for her case to be heard before a Disciplinary Tribunal.
In April, she withdrew from the London Marathon, claiming that she was 'not in the right place mentally or physically' to put in her best performance.
For winning the Chicago Marathon last year, she earned around £74,500 and a further £37,300 for breaking the record.
She averaged an astonishing 4:57.4 per mile.
