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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 in two hours nine 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 30-year-old runner.
In April, Chepngetich withdrew from the London Marathon, saying at the time she was “not in the right place mentally or physically” to race her best.
Chepngetich was interviewed in person in Kenya in April and “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.