Ugandan Olympic athlete dies after being set on fire by former partner

Rebecca Cheptegei competed in the 2024 Paris Olympics last month.

LONDON — Ugandan long-distance runner Rebecca Cheptegei has died four days after being doused in petrol and set on fire by her former partner, authorities announced.

Cheptegei — who had been receiving treatment at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret City, Kenya — succumbed to her injuries after sustaining burns to almost 80% of her body in the attack, which occurred on Sunday.

Cheptegei was doused with a can of gasoline before being set on fire during an argument over land, according to a police report. Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital announced Cheptegei died at the age of 33 after her organs failed on Thursday, according to hospital spokesperson Owen Menach.

“We have learnt of the sad passing of our Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei following a vicious attack by her boyfriend,” Donald Rukare, head of the Uganda Olympic Committee, announced Thursday on X. “May her gentle soul rest in peace and we strongly condemn violence against women. This was a cowardly and senseless act that has led to the loss of a great athlete. Her legacy will continue to endure.”

The Ugandan marathon runner had competed in the women’s marathon at the 2024 Paris Olympics, finishing in 44th place with a season’s best time of 2:32:14, just a month before the fatal attack.

She had a personal best in the marathon of 2:22:47 set in December 2022.

The Ugandan athlete had been living in northwestern Kenya, with her father saying she recently bought land in Trans Nzoia County to build a home and be closer to Kenya’s athletics training centers, according to The Associated Press.

Cheptegei’s Kenyan partner, who allegedly carried out the attack — identified as Dickson Ndiema — is said to have sustained “serious burns” in the attack and is receiving treatment at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital.

The Uganda Athletics Federation said it is “deeply saddened” by the passing of Cheptegei.

“We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of our athlete, Rebecca Cheptegei early this morning who tragically fell victim to domestic violence,” the federation announced on Thursday. “As a federation, we condemn such acts and call for justice.”

The incident is the latest in a string of domestic violence cases against female athletes in Kenya.

In 2021, Kenyan distance runner Agnes Tirop was found stabbed to death in her home in Iten, in northwest Kenya. Just a few weeks earlier, the rising athletics star had set a new women’s 10 kilometer road running record at the “Adizero: Road to Records” event in Herzogenaurach, Germany.

Tirop’s husband — Ibrahim Rotich — was subsequently arrested and charged with her murder. The case is currently ongoing.

Just a year later, Kenyan-Bahraini athlete Damaris Muthee Mutua, 28, was found murdered at her home in the same town, with Kenya’s Directorate of Criminal Investigations saying her cause of death was strangulation.

Kenyan police launched a manhunt for Mutua’s Ethiopian boyfriend — Eskinder Hailemaryam Folie — who is the main suspect in her murder and is alleged to have fled Kenya.