Marathon record holder gets 3-year doping ban

MONACO — Women’s marathon world record-holder Ruth Chepng’etich has been banned for three years after admitting to a doping violation, track and field’s Athletics Integrity Unit said Thursday.

The AIU said Chepng’etich admitted to anti-doping rule violations over the presence and use of the banned diuretic hydrochlorothiazide, or HCTZ, which can be used to disguise the use of performance-enhancing drugs. She had been suspended in July.

The AIU also said Chepng’etich, 31, had accepted the charges and sanction following a positive test for the banned diuretic from a March 14 sample.

The Kenyan runner broke the world record by almost two minutes at the Chicago Marathon last year, clocking 2 hours, 9 minutes, 56 seconds.

The AIU said all Chepng’etich’s achievements and records before the March 14 sample would stand.