Uganda's Olympic runner Rebecca Cheptegei dies after being burned by her partner

Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei has died in a Kenyan hospital where she was being treated after suffering burns to 80% of her body as a result of an attack by her partner.

A hospital spokesman, Owen Menach, confirmed her death on Thursday. Cheptegei was being treated at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret city.

Trans Nzoia County Police Commissioner Jeremiah ole Kosiom said on Monday that Cheptegei's partner Dickson Ndiema bought a jerrycan of petrol during an argument on Sunday, poured it on her and set her on fire. Ndiema also suffered burns and was being treated at the same hospital.

Cheptegei's parents said their daughter bought land in Trans Nzoia to be close to the county's many sports training centres.

Cheptegei, a long-distance runner, finished 44th in the marathon at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

A report from the local chief states that the couple was heard arguing over the land on which the house was built before the fire broke out.

In 2023, Ugandan Olympic runner and steeplechase runner Benjamin Kiplagat was found dead with stab wounds.

In 2022, Kenyan-born Bahraini athlete Damaris Muthee was found dead and an autopsy revealed that she had been strangled.