Rebecca Cheptegei: Ugandan Olympic runner set on fire by her boyfriend

A Ugandan athlete living in Kenya was attacked and set on fire by her boyfriend and is currently being treated for burns to 75 percent of her body, police said.

Rebecca Cheptegei, a long-distance runner who finished 44th at the 2024 Paris Olympics, was attacked in her home in western Trans Nzoia County.

Trans Nzoia County Police Commissioner Jeremiah ole Kosiom said on Monday that Cheptegei’s boyfriend Dickson Ndiema bought a jerrycan of petrol, poured it on her and set her alight during an argument on Sunday. Ndiema also suffered burns and the two are receiving specialist treatment at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret town.

Cheptegei’s parents said their daughter bought land in Trans Nzoia to be close to the county’s many sports training centres.

A report from the local chief said the couple were heard arguing over the land on which the house stood before the fire broke out.

In 2023, Ugandan Olympic runner and steeplechase runner Benjamin Kiplagat was found dead with stab wounds. In 2022, Kenyan-born Bahraini athlete Damaris Muthee was found dead. According to the autopsy report, she was strangled.