BY OSABUOHIEN VIVIAN ROSE
Women’s marathon world-record holder Ruth Chepngetich was provisionally suspended for a positive doping test on Thursday.
Track and field’s Athletics Integrity Unit said Chepngetich tested positive for a banned diuretic and masking agent in March and “opted for a voluntary provisional suspension while the AIU’s investigation was ongoing.”
The Kenyan runner set the world record by almost two minutes at the Chicago Marathon last October, finishing in 2 hours, 9 minutes, 56 seconds. It was her third win in Chicago.
She also won the marathon at the 2019 world championships in Qatar, where the women’s race started at midnight to avoid extreme daytime heat.
The AIU gave no timetable for a disciplinary case for the athlete.
Chepngetich, 30, was interviewed in Kenya in April, “complied with requests regarding our investigation,” AIU official Brett Clothier said in a statement.
The substance Chepngetich tested positive for, hydrochlorothiazide or HCTZ, can be used to disguise the use of performance-enhancing drugs.
