Update: Olympic Runner Rebecca Cheptegei Dead After Being Set On Fire By Her Boyfriend In Gasoline Attack
An Olympic Ugandan athlete who was set on fire by her boyfriend has died of her injuries, shocking the global athletic community.
She was 33.
Rebecca Cheptegei, a distance runner who competed in the 2024 Paris Olympics and finished No. 44, was brutally assaulted in her home in Trans-Nzoia County, Kenya, on Sunday.
According to the 'Associated Press,' Cheptegei was left with severe burns covering 75 percent of her body.
A spokesperson at the hospital, Owen Menach, confirmed her death Thursday, per 'ESPN.'
According to Trans Nzoia County Police Commander Jeremiah ole Kosiom, Cheptegei's boyfriend, Dickson Ndiema, was the suspected assailant. He allegedly doused her with gasoline and set her on fire following a heated argument.
Ndiema also suffered burns during the incident, and both he and Cheptegei were treated at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret.
The attack appears to have stemmed from a dispute over property. Cheptegei's parents stated that she had bought land in Trans Nzoia County to be near athletic training centers. A report from the local chief noted that the couple had been heard arguing about the land just before the fire erupted.
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The incident follows a disturbing pattern of violence involving runners in recent years.
In 2023, Ugandan Olympic steeplechaser Benjamin Kiplagat was found dead with stab wounds, and two men were arrested in connection with what appeared to be a robbery, per the 'BBC.'
Later that year, Rwandan runner Rubayita Siragi was killed after an altercation with another athlete. The body of Kenyan-born Bahraini runner Damaris Muthee was discovered in 2022. According to an autopsy, she had been strangled.
In 2021, Kenyan authorities arrested the husband of record-breaking runner Agnes Tirop, who won bronze medals in the 10,000 metres at the 2017 and 2019 World Athletics Championships, who was fatally stabbed at home.
