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In the month of October last year, Kenyan runner Ruth Chepngetich broke the world record in athletics to win the Chicago Marathon clocking a time of two hours, nine minutes, and 56 seconds. It was her third win in Chicago. Her record in Chicago surpassed Ethiopian Tigst Assefa’s previous record set at the 2023 Berlin Marathon by nearly two minutes. In the year 2019, she won the marathon at the World Championships in Qatar. But now, it is uncertain when will the world witness to see the world record holder on the track running again.
Ruth Chepngetich is provisionally suspended for a positive doping test on Thursday, July 17. Track and field’s Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said Chepngetich was tested positive for a banned diuretic hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) in March. Used commonly as a masking agent, HCTZ has a minimum reporting level of 20 nanograms per millilitre (ng/mL) in urine. But, Chepngetich’s sample showed 3,800 ng/mL. Notably, HCTZ is used clinically to treat fluid retention and hypertension and is prohibited at all times under the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) Code.
Ruth Chepngetich opted for a voluntary provisional suspension
Chepngetich was not suspended at the time of notification on April 16 this year. In its statement, the Athletics Integrity Unit said that on April 19, Chepngetich “opted for a voluntary provisional suspension while the AIUs investigation was ongoing.”
In April, she also withdrew from the London Marathon saying at the time she was “not in the right place mentally or physically” to race her best. Chepgnetich was interviewed in person in Kenya in April and “complied with requests regarding our intervention,” AIU official Brett Clothier said in his statement. The investigating body gave no timetable for the disciplinary case.
