[Benjamin]

Rebecca Cheptegei, pictured running last year, came 44th in the marathon at the Paris Olympics

Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei has died days after being doused in petrol and set on fire by a former boyfriend.

The 33-year-old Ugandan marathon runner, who competed in the recent Paris Olympics, had suffered extensive burns after Sunday's attack.

The authorities in north-west Kenya, where Cheptegei lived and trained, said she was targeted after returning home from church with her two daughters.

Her father, Joseph Cheptegei, said that he had lost a “very supportive” daughter. Fellow Ugandan athlete James Kirwa told the BBC about her generosity and how she had helped out other runners financially.

A report filed by a local administrator alleged the athlete and her ex-partner had been wrangling over a piece of land. Police say an investigation is underway.

Cheptegei, from a region just across the border in Uganda, is said to have bought a plot in Trans Nzoia county and built a house to be near Kenya's elite athletics training centres.

Attacks on women have become a major concern in Kenya. In 2022 at least 34% of women said they had experienced physical violence, according to a national survey.

"This tragedy is a stark reminder of the urgent need to combat gender-based violence, which has increasingly affected even elite sports," Kenya's Sports Minister Kipchumba Murkomen said.

Different organisations within the UN have also spoken out on the issue.

"We join the UN Population Fund and UN Women in strongly condemning [Cheptegei's} violent murder," spokesperson for the UN secretary-general Stephane Dujarric is quoted by the AFP news agency as saying.

Speaking to journalists outside the hospital where she had been treated, Mr Cheptegei asked the Kenyan government to ensure justice was done after the death of his daughter.

"We have lost our breadwinner," he added and wondered how her two young children would "proceed with their education".

Dr Kimani Mbugua, a consultant at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret, told local media that the staff did all they could for her but the athlete "had a severe percentage of burns, which unfortunately led to multi-organ failure, which ultimately led to her passing this morning at 05:30 [02:30 GMT]".

Kirwa, who often trained with Cheptegei and had visited her in hospital, told the BBC she "was a very affable person. [She] helped us all even financially and she brought me training shoes when she came back from the Olympics. She was like an older sister to me".

Uganda's athletics federation said in a post on X, external: "We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of our athlete, Rebecca Cheptegei early this morning who tragically fell victim to domestic violence. As a federation, we condemn such acts and call for justice. May her soul rest In Peace."

"This is heart-breaking. Even more heart-breaking that it's not the first time the athletics community has lost such an incredible female athlete to domestic violence," British Olympian runner Eilish McColgan wrote on X, external.

Cheptegei's former boyfriend was also admitted to the hospital in Eldoret - but with less severe burns. He is still in intensive care but his condition was "improving and stable", Moi hospital's Dr Owen Menach said.

Earlier, local police chief Jeremiah ole Kosiom was quoted by local media as saying: "The couple were heard quarrelling outside their house. During the altercation, the boyfriend was seen pouring a liquid on the woman before burning her."


Cheptegei won the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Thailand in 2022

"This was a cowardly and senseless act that has led to the loss of a great athlete. Her legacy will continue to endure," the head of Uganda's Olympic committee Donald Rukare said on X, external.

Talking to reporters earlier in the week, her father said that he prayed "for justice for my daughter", adding that he had never seen such an inhumane act in his life.

Uganda’s Sports Minister Peter Ogwang said arrangements were being made to transport Cheptegei’s body back to Uganda for burial.

"We mourn with the family as a country," he told the BBC World Service's Newshour programme.
He added that Cheptegei had wanted to talk to him when they were at the Olympics together.

"She [said she] had a family problem."
Cheptegei finished 44th in the marathon at the recent Paris Olympics.
She also won gold at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in 2022.

Her death comes after the killings of fellow East African athletes Agnes Tirop in 2021 and Damaris Mutua the following year, with their partners identified as the main suspects in both cases by the authorities.

Tirop's husband is currently facing murder charges, which he denies, while a hunt for Mutua's boyfriend continues.

"Today has been a sad moment for me. It has been a sad moment for athletes because it really reminded us [of] the day that Agnes was murdered,” Kenyan athlete Joan Chelimo told the BBC.

She is involved in Tirop's Angels, an organisation she said was set up as a “wake-up call” after Tirop's murder to address gender-based violence.

“We say we need to unite together as athletes and just try to raise awareness, create a place where women can just come and speak up. But it is still on the rise.”

Cheptegei's friend Milcah Chemos-Cheywa, a Kenyan athlete who with her in Paris, echoed these feelings.
"I can say we are still in shock, and we are in pain, especially as athletes, and this thing happening in Kenya,” she told the Reuters news agency. “We remember the case of Agnes Tirop, now it has come to Rebecca, so we are not happy.’’

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3vx0kq2xr2o

[bots]

Uganda is a terrible country

[Benjamin]

Originally Posted by bots

Uganda is a terrible country

It happened in Kenya.

[arista]

Evil Husband in Kenya.

[Crimson Dynamo]

Originally Posted by Benjamin

It happened in Kenya.

ouch

[Cherie]

Hope he lives and suffers for the rest of his life

[bots]

Originally Posted by Benjamin

It happened in Kenya.

my statement is still correct. However, i did think Kenya was better, so this is grim

[Ammi]

…awful, awful, awful…and over a piece of land…?…I don’t know what sentence the laws in Kenya would give for such an horrendous act but I hope that her family get a sense of justice for this…

[Mystic Mock]

He has shown himself to be incredibly dangerous to the public with that method imo.

The Kenyan justice system will hopefully put him behind bars for a very long time.

[Niamh.]

absolutely horrific, she must have been in so much pain before she died

[Benjamin]

Paris to honour Olympic runner set on fire by ex-boyfriend


A sports venue in Paris will be named after Ugandan Olympic runner Rebecca Cheptegei, who died after her ex-boyfriend allegedly set her on fire, the French capital's mayor has announced.

The 33-year-old mother died on Thursday with severe burns after her former partner allegedly doused her in petrol and set her on fire outside her home in north-western Kenya on Sunday.

Police in western Kenya have told the BBC they are treating Cheptegei's death as murder. They previously said an investigation was under way.

Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo said dedicating a sports venue after Cheptegei would help "her memory and her story remain among us".

Cheptegei competed in the Olympic marathon in Paris, coming 44th in a time of two hours 32 minutes and 14 seconds.

Ms Hidalgo told reporters the runner "dazzled us" at the Olympic Games in the French capital, adding that "Paris will not forget her".

"We saw her. Her beauty, her strength, her freedom, and it was in all likelihood her beauty, strength and freedom which were intolerable for the person who committed this murder," she said.

"We'll dedicate a sports venue to her so that her memory and her story remains among us and helps carry the message of equality, which is a message carried by the Olympic and Paralympic Games."

Joan Chelimo, a fellow athlete of Cheptegei's, said women need to "come together" following the incident.

“I knew Rebecca as a person: we were together at the Paris Olympics. She was a mum, she had been hard working to be at the Olympics," she told BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour.

“She was the breadwinner of her family and you can imagine other girls were looking up to her."

Ms Chelimo added: “We are still hoping, and trying to hope, that the perpetrators will be held accountable for their wrongdoings."

At 19 years old, Cheptegei first represented Uganda in an under-20 race at the 2010 World Cross Country Championships and later transitioned to longer road races, making her marathon debut in 2021.

She recorded a personal best of two hours 22 minutes and 47 seconds the following year, making her the second-fastest Ugandan woman of all time.

Cheptegei was able to support her family with her earnings from running.

Ms Chelimo said she thinks some men feel "intimidated" by female athletes who are "going beyond the traditional norms of men providing everything".

“They are becoming more financially stable, they are becoming more independent, and I think their ex-partners don’t like the fact we are becoming independent, we are raising our voices more."

A report filed by a local administrator alleged the athlete and her ex-partner had been wrangling over a piece of land.

Attacks on women have become a major concern in Kenya. In 2022 at least 34% of women said they had experienced physical violence, according to a national survey.

“More needs to be done," Ms Chelimo said. "We are really hoping that now it’s another wake up call and for us to come together.”

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c05jqq47ynmo