In a major blow to the athletics world, Kenyan marathoner Ruth Chepngetich, the current women’s marathon world record-holder, has been provisionally suspended after testing positive for a banned substance, announced the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) on Thursday.
The 30-year-old athlete, who stunned the world last October by shattering the women’s marathon world record at the Chicago Marathon with a time of 2:09:56, tested positive for hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ), a diuretic and masking agent often used to hide the use of performance-enhancing drugs.
The positive test came from a sample collected in March 2025, and Chepngetich has voluntarily accepted provisional suspension while the investigation continues.
Chepngetich, also known for winning the 2019 World Championships in Qatar, where the marathon was run at midnight due to extreme heat, was interviewed in Kenya in April and fully cooperated, according to AIU official Brett Clothier.
While no timeline has been set for the disciplinary hearing, the development casts a shadow over one of the most celebrated long-distance running careers in recent history.
This incident adds to a growing list of high-profile doping cases and raises fresh concerns about transparency and clean sport in elite athletics.
