Ugandan runner Cheptegei dies after boyfriend sets her on fire

Ugandan Olympic marathon runner Rebecca Cheptegei has died, hospital officials said Thursday, days after her boyfriend doused her with gasoline and set her on fire.

Kenyan and Ugandan media reported that 33-year-old Cheptegei, who was competing in the Paris Olympics, suffered burns to more than 75% of her body in the attack in Kenya on Sunday, making her the third athlete to be killed in the country since October 2021.

“We have learned of the sad death of our Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei… following a brutal attack by her boyfriend,” said Donald Rukare, president of the Uganda Olympic Committee, in a post on X.

“May her gentle soul rest in peace and we strongly condemn violence against women. This was a cowardly and senseless act that led to the loss of a great athlete.”

Cheptegei, who finished 44th in Paris, was taken to hospital in the Kenyan Rift Valley city of Eldoret after the attack.

Cheptegei “died of organ failure at 5:30am this morning,” Owen Menach, senior director of clinical services at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, told Reuters, adding that a full report on the circumstances of her death would be released on Thursday afternoon.

Peter Ogwang, Uganda's Minister of State for Sports, described her death as “tragic”.

“The Kenyan authorities are investigating the circumstances of her death and will provide a more detailed report and program in due course,” he said.

Cheptegei's death highlights the violence experienced by female athletes in Kenya, where she lived during her training.

In October 2021, Olympic runner Agnes Tirop, a rising star in Kenya's highly competitive athletics scene, was found dead in her home in the town of Iten with multiple stab wounds to her neck.

Her husband, Ibrahim Rotich, was charged with her murder and pleaded not guilty. The case is still ongoing.

The murder of the 25-year-old shocked Kenya and led to active and former athletes founding “Tirop's Angels” in 2022 to combat domestic violence.

Joan Chelimo, one of the founders of the nonprofit organization, told Reuters that female athletes are at high risk of exploitation and violence from men who are interested in their money.

“They fall into the traps of sex offenders who pose as lovers in their lives,” she said.