Ugandan Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei is dead

Nairobi September 5—A Ugandan Olympic runner, Rebecca Cheptegei has died.

Rebecca Cheptegie, who competed last month in the Paris Olympic Games, passed on at the Moi Teaching and Referral hospital in Eldoret where she was admitted to ICU.

The hospital Director, Dr. Owen Menach, confirmed that she died last night after all her organs failed adding that the hospital will give a full report on the matter later.

Cheptegei suffered burns to three-quarters of her body when her partner allegedly poured petrol on her and set her ablaze. The burns damaged most of her organs.

The attack took place on Sunday afternoon at Cheptegie’s home in Kenya’s western Trans Nzoia County.

The said partner, Dickson Ndiema Marangach, also sustained burn injuries during the attack. He was also admitted to the same ICU facility with about 30% burns.

On Sunday Marangach sneaked into Cheptegei’s home with a 5-litre jerrican full of petrol.

Cheptegei 33, had gone to church with her two children and when she returned, the man poured petrol on her and lit fire.

Neighbours who heard the commotion rescued the two and rushed them to Moi Teaching and Referral hospital in critical condition.

Cheptegie’s parents said their daughter bought a land in Trans Nzola county and built a house to take advantage of its training facilities.

Cheptegei’s father, Mzee Joseph Cheptegei, said that the two were just friends in Trans Nzola where the attack occurred. He said the two had a case which was being investigated by authorities.

Mzee Cheptegei disclosed that her daughter had two children whose father is a different person living in Uganda.

Cheptegie, who was placed 44th in the women’s marathon at the 2024 Olympics, is not the first high-profile athlete to make headlines as the victim of domestic assault in Kenya.

In 2021, record-breaking Kenyan runner Agnes Tirop was found stabbed to death in her home. Tirop’s estranged husband Emmanuel Ibrahim Rotich, who denies involvement, is now being tried for her murder.

Tirop’s family and fellow Kenyan athletes launched a foundation in her honour to combat gender-based violence – Tirop’s Angels – which recently opened a centre in Kenya’s western town of Iten.