This text accommodates references that some could discover distressing; Ugandan runner Rebecca Cheptegei dies after petrol assault, allegedly by former boyfriend; Cheptegei completed forty fourth in girls’s marathon at 2024 Summer time Olympic Video games in Paris
Final Up to date: 05/09/24 11:31am
Ugandan runner Rebecca Cheptegei has died on the age of 33 after reportedly being attacked by her former boyfriend
Ugandan Olympic runner Rebecca Cheptegei has died on the age of 33 after she was allegedly attacked by her former boyfriend.
Police say Cheptegei was doused with petrol and set on hearth at her house in Western Kenya, struggling intensive burns.
The Ugandan Athletics Federation posted on X: “We have learnt of the sad passing on of our Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei following a vicious attack by her boyfriend.
“Could her mild soul relaxation in peace and we strongly condemn violence towards girls. This was a cowardly and mindless act that has led to the lack of an important athlete. Her legacy will proceed to endure.”
Cheptegei finished 44th in the marathon at the recent Paris Olympics, while she won gold at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Thailand in 2022.
Uganda Olympic Committee president Donald Rukare called the attack “a cowardly and mindless act that has led to the lack of an important athlete” and that “her legacy will proceed to endure”.
Authorities in Kenya said Cheptegei was targeted after returning home from church, with a local administrator alleging that the athlete and her ex-boyfriend had been arguing over a piece of land.
Cheptegei’s parents said their daughter had bought land in the Trans-Nzoia area to be near Kenya’s many athletic training centres.
Great Britian’s Eilish McColgan, who competed in the 10,000m in Paris, wrote on X: “That is heartbreaking.
“Even more heartbreaking that it’s not the first time the athletics community has lost such an incredible female athlete to domestic violence. It needs to stop! RIP Rebecca.”
