The city of Paris will pay tribute to Ugandan Olympic marathon runner Rebecca Cheptegei, who tragically lost her life following a brutal attack in Kenya.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo announced plans to name a sports venue in Cheptegei’s honor, ensuring her legacy endures while promoting the message of equality championed by the Olympic and Paralympic Games, as reported by the Times of India.
Cheptegei, who competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics, was gruesomely killed after her partner set her on fire, shocking the global community.
Police reported that a man identified as Dickson Ndiema Marangach had doused Cheptegei with petrol and set her alight at her home in Endebess, located in Kenya’s Trans-Nzoia County.
Ugandan athletics officials confirmed Cheptegei’s death four days later.
“Paris will not forget her. We will dedicate a sports venue to her so that her memory and her story remain with us and help carry the message of equality, a message central to the Olympic and Paralympic Games,” Hidalgo said.
“She dazzled us here in Paris. We saw her—her beauty, her strength, her freedom. It was most likely those very qualities that became intolerable to the person who committed this murder,” Hidalgo told reporters.
Cheptegei, 33, made her Olympic debut in the women’s marathon at the Paris Games, finishing 44th.
Police and doctors say she was left with 80 percent burns after being attacked in front of her children on Sunday by her Kenyan partner, Dickson Ndiema Marangach.
Her death, which the United Nations called a “violent murder”, triggered widespread condemnation.
“The news of our daughter Rebecca Cheptegei’s tragic death due to domestic violence is deeply disturbing,” Janet Museveni, Uganda’s First Lady and Education Minister, posted on X.
Kenyan Sports Minister Kipchumba Murkomen said it was a “stark reminder” that more must be done to combat gender-based violence.
The Paris Olympics organisers voiced their “profound indignation and sadness”.
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