Tom Bassindale

This is one of the WILDEST parts of the Ruth Chepngetich report put out by the Athletics Integrity Unit on her three-year ban. The AIU found a screenshot of a WhatsApp message she got from another athlete showing pictures of testosterone vials, along with a message asking how testosterone “works.” There were also messages about people working on “programs” that could be related to doping. Then, there was also a photo showing a vial and box of Anavar, which is another banned steroid. The athlete said she never asked for or responded to the testosterone message and might have taken the screenshot by accident. She also said the other messages were random, possibly from group chats or things forwarded to her without her asking. As for the Anavar image, she said it might have been automatically saved from a group chat, and she didn’t search for it herself. Two weeks after the AIU charged her in July, she gave a brand-new explanation: she said that on March 12, 2025, she had felt unwell and took medicine from her housemaid, who’d had similar symptoms. The pill turned out to be Hydrochlorothiazide, which she didn’t realize was banned. She also said she forgot to mention it on her doping control form two days later.