Ugandan Olympic runner Rebecca Cheptegei, who tragically died after allegedly being set on fire by her former partner, was to be buried with full military honors on Saturday.
Cheptegei had returned to her home in the highlands of western Kenya, a well-known training hub for international runners, after finishing 44th in the marathon at the Paris Olympics on August 11.
Rebecca Cheptegei’s final race ended tragically. Just three weeks after her Olympic marathon in Paris, Cheptegei was allegedly attacked by her former boyfriend, Dickson Ndiema Marangach, while returning from church with her daughters and younger sister in Kinyoro, according to Kenyan police and her family.
Her father, Joseph Cheptegei, revealed that she had reported Marangach to the police at least three times, with the most recent complaint filed on August 30, just two days before the incident.
Rebecca Cheptegei suffered burns over 80% of her body and tragically passed away four days later from her injuries.
While receiving treatment in the hospital, she told her father, “I don’t think I am going to make it,” and requested, “If I die, just bury me at home in Uganda.”
Her death has fueled outrage over the alarming rates of violence against women in Kenya, particularly within the athletics community.
Cheptegei became the third elite runner to reportedly die at the hands of a romantic partner since 2021.
According to 2022 government data, one in three Kenyan girls or women aged 15-49 have experienced physical violence.
Rights groups warn that female athletes in Kenya are particularly vulnerable to exploitation and abuse, often targeted by men seeking their prize money, which far exceeds local earnings.
Rebecca Cheptegei’s athletic achievements included winning the 2021 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Thailand, and in 2022, she claimed first place at the Padova Marathon in Italy, setting a national record in the marathon.
Rebecca Cheptegei, born in eastern Uganda in 1991, met Dickson Ndiema Marangach during a training visit to Kenya and later moved there to pursue her dream of becoming an elite runner.
Marangach died a few days after Cheptegei from burns allegedly sustained during the attack, causing division within the local running community.
Marathoner Viola Cheptoo, co-founder of Tirop’s Angels—a support group for athletes facing domestic violence in Kenya—remarked, “Justice really would have been for him to sit in jail and think about what he had done.”
Her tragic death shocked the world, but her legacy may inspire future athletes, as Paris plans to name a sports facility in her honor. “She dazzled us here in Paris.
We saw her. Her beauty, her strength, her freedom,” said Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo. “Paris will not forget her.”
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