Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei has died at a Kenyan hospital where she was being treated after suffering burns to 80 per cent of her body in an attack by her boyfriend.
Cheptegei, a distance runner who finished 44th in the marathon at the 2024 Paris Olympics, was receiving treatment at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret city.
A hospital spokesperson confirmed her death on Thursday.
Trans Nzoia County Police Commander Jeremiah ole Kosiom said Cheptegei’s partner, Dickson Ndiema, bought a can of petrol, poured it on her and set her ablaze during an argument on Sunday.
Ndiema was also burned and was being treated at the same hospital.
Cheptegei’s parents said their daughter bought land in Trans Nzoia to be near the county’s many athletic training centres.
A report filed by the local chief states the couple was heard fighting over the land where the house was built before the fire started.
