The track and field community continues to mourn the loss of Ugandan Olympic marathon runner Rebecca Cheptegei. The 33-year-old athlete died on Thursday, September 5, 2024, following a horrific incident of alleged domestic abuse in Kenya.
The Reported Incident
Cheptegei, who recently competed in the Paris Olympics, was reportedly doused in petrol and set on fire by her boyfriend on Sunday. She suffered burns to over 75% of her body and was admitted to a hospital in Eldoret, Kenya. Despite medical efforts, she succumbed to her injuries four days later.
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Rebecca Cheptegei: A Stellar Career Cut Short
Rebecca Cheptegei was a versatile and accomplished athlete. Her career highlights include:
- Victory in the up and downhill race at the 2022 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships
- Setting a Ugandan marathon record of 2:22:47 in 2022
- 14th place finish in the marathon at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest
- Olympic debut in Paris 2024, placing 44th in the marathon
Reaction from the Athletics Community
Donald Rukare, president of the Uganda Olympics Committee, expressed his condolences and strongly condemned violence against women.
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe stated, “Our sport has lost a talented athlete in the most tragic and unthinkable circumstances.”
A Disturbing Trend
Cheptegei’s death marks the third killing of a prominent sportswoman in Kenya since October 2021. This tragic incident has raised serious concerns about the safety of female athletes in the region.
Meanwhile, World Athletics has announced plans to assess how their safeguarding policies might be enhanced to include abuse outside of the sport. The organization aims to bring together stakeholders from all areas of athletics to better protect female athletes from abuse of all kinds.
A World Athletics release stated: “I have been in touch with our Council Members in Africa to see how we can help not only in our capacity as governing body of the sport Rebecca competed in, but to assess how our safeguarding policies might be enhanced to include abuse outside of the sport, and bringing together stakeholders from all areas of athletics to combine forces to protect our female athletes to the best of our abilities from abuse of all kinds.”