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

Johannesburg — Ugandan athletics officials said Thursday that 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 on fire. Cheptegei, 33, died Thursday morning of organ failure four days after she was attacked. 

Cheptegi placed 44th in the marathon at the recent Paris Olympics and was well known in the running world. Trans Nzoia County Police Commander Jeremiah ole Kosiom said Monday that Cheptegei's boyfriend, Dickson Ndiema, had bought a jerrican of gasoline, doused her and set her ablaze the previous day during an argument over land.

"The couple were heard quarrelling outside their house. During the altercation, the boyfriend was seen pouring a liquid on the woman before burning her," 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," Ugandan Olympic Committee President 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 previously killed, allegedly by their partners, in the same area as Cheptegi within six months of one another.

Tirop's death in October 2021 sparked protests that 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.