Ugandan Olympic runner Rebecca Cheptegei dies after allegedly being set on fire by boyfriend

Johannesburg — Ugandan athletics officials said Thursday that the country’s Olympic marathon runner Rebecca Cheptegei had died in a hospital in neighboring Kenya where she was being treated for burns to 80% of her body after her boyfriend allegedly doused her with gasoline and set her alight. Cheptegei, 33, died Thursday morning of organ failure four days after police said she was attacked by her partner during a dispute over land.

Cheptegi placed 44th in the marathon at the recent Paris Olympics and was well known in the marathon running world. Trans Nzoia County Police Commander Jeremiah ole Kosiom said Monday that Cheptegei’s boyfriend, Dickson Ndiema, had bought a jerrican of gasoline and set her alight after the disagreement on Sunday.

“The couple were heard quarrelling outside their house. During the altercation the boyfriend was seen pouring a liquid on the woman before burning her,” local police chief Jeremiah ole Kosiom told Kenyan media.

Both Cheptegei and Ndiema suffered burns and were brought to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret, western Kenya, after neighbors reported hearing shouting and seeing fire.

“May her gentle soul rest in peace and we strongly condemn violence against women,” President of the Ugandan Olympic Committee Donald Rukare said in a social media post Thursday. “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 Olympic Committee called in a Thursday statement for “law enforcement agencies to take swift and decisive action to bring the perpetrator to justice for this cowardly and deplorable action.”

Two elite Kenyan runners, Agnes Tirop and Damaris Mutua, were both killed in the same area as Cheptegi within six months of one another by their partners.

Tirop’s death in October 2021 sparked protests, which were amplified when hundreds of athletes took to the streets of the town of Iten calling for stricter laws and gender-based outreach centers.

Tirop’s husband is on trial for the 25-year-old runner’s murder.

Kenya’s Bureau of National Statistics published a report at the beginning of 2023 that found 34% of women in the country had experienced physical violence after reaching the age of 15, with women who were or had been married almost twice as likely to report violence.