Ruth Chepngetich has been provisionally suspended due to a positive doping test. The Kenyan world record holder in the marathon tested positive for the banned substance hydrochlorothiazide in March and was charged by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) on Thursday.
Chepngetich voluntarily chose a provisional suspension while the AIU investigation is ongoing. The organization has been investigating the positive test since March and decided on Thursday to file an official charge against the 2019 world champion.
The thirty-year-old Chepngetich tested positive for hydrochlorothiazide. That is a diuretic that is often used to mask doping.
Last October, Chepngetich was the first woman to run the marathon in under two hours and ten minutes. In Chicago, she set a time of 2:09.56, which is still the world record.
Chepngetich a competitor of Hassan
Chepngetich is a competitor of Sifan Hassan in the marathon. They were supposed to meet in the London Marathon in April, but the Kenyan withdrew.
“I am not mentally and physically in the right position to be at my best in London,” she explained at the time. Her voluntary suspension was already running during that period, it now appears.
The World Athletics Championships are scheduled for September. It is unlikely that Chepngetich will be able to go for her second world title in the marathon there.