Olympic Games – Paris names sports venue after the late Ugandan Olympian Cheptegei

(Reuters) – The French capital will pay tribute to Ugandan Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei, who was set on fire by her boyfriend, by naming a sports facility after her, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said on Friday.

The marathon runner, who competed in the Paris Olympics last month, died on Thursday, four days after she was doused with petrol and set on fire by her boyfriend in Kenya, the latest attack on a female athlete in the country.

The 33-year-old, who finished 44th in her Olympic debut, suffered burns to more than 75 percent of her body in Sunday's attack, Kenyan and Ugandan media reported.

“She dazzled us here in Paris. We saw her. Her beauty, her strength, her freedom, and it was in all probability her beauty, strength and freedom that were unbearable for the person who committed this murder,” Hidalgo told reporters.

“Paris will not forget her. We will dedicate a sports venue to her so that her memory and her story remain among us and help spread the message of equality, a message carried by the Olympic and Paralympic Games.”

Cheptegei is the third prominent female athlete to be killed in Kenya since October 2021. Kenya's Sports Minister Kipchumba Murkomen described Cheptegei's death as a loss “for the entire region”.

“This is a critical moment – not only to mourn the loss of a remarkable Olympian, but also to commit ourselves to creating a society that respects and protects the dignity of every individual,” Ganzi Semu Mugula, chair of the Uganda Athletes' Commission, said on Friday.

(Reporting by Shifa Jahan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sharon Singleton)