Cheptegei, who finished 44th in the marathon at the 2024 Paris Olympics, endured the horrific attack in her home in Trans Nzoia County.
Ugandan Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei has tragically passed away. Cheptegei succumbed to her injuries on Wednesday night at the Eldoret’s Moi Teaching & Referral Hospital (MTRH), where she had been admitted to the ICU.
The athlete was rushed to the hospital after suffering 80% burns following a violent altercation with her boyfriend, Dickson Ndiema Marangach, who allegedly set her on fire during a disagreement on Sunday, according to Trans Nzoia police commander Jeremiah ole Kosiom.
Cheptegei, who finished 44th in the marathon at the 2024 Paris Olympics, endured the horrific attack in her home in Trans Nzoia County. Reports indicate that Marangach secretly entered her house while she and her children were at church, waited for her return before setting her on fire. Marangach also sustained burns in the incident and remains in the ICU.
MTRH Acting Director Dr. Owen Menach confirmed Cheptegei’s death, stating, “Unfortunately, we lost her after all her organs failed last night.”
RISING CASES OF FEMICIDE
Cheptegei's death highlights the rising cases of violence against women athletes, just months after Kenyan athletes marched in protest, calling for an end to femicide and violence against women.
In 2021, Kenyan record-breaking athlete Agnes Tirop, 25, was similarly killed, stabbed to death at her home in Iten, allegedly by her estranged husband Emmanuel Ibrahim Rotich. That case is still ongoing.