Olympic marathon runner Rebecca Cheptegei is recovering in a hospital after a horrifying attack at her home in Uganda. The athlete was doused in gasoline and set ablaze by her boyfriend, Dickson Ndiema.
The 33-year-old Ugandan distance runner competed at the 2024 Paris Olympics before relocating to Kenya. Her parents said she purchased land in the area because it is ideal for training.
As a marathon runner representing her country on a global stage, Rebecca Cheptegei has won the hearts of fans all over the world. However, the latest news has cast a pall over her illustrious career.
Ms Cheptegei is said to have been returning from church with her two children when she was targeted on Sunday at her home in the small town of Endebess.
She was rescued and quickly transported by neighbors after the incident happened.
Ms Cheptegei is said to have purchased land in Trans Nzoia County and built a house near Kenya’s numerous athletic training facilities. According to a report filed by a local administrator, her boyfriend, the attacker, was fighting with her over the plot of land.
“The couple was heard quarreling outside their house,” Police Chief Jeremiah Ole Kosiom disclosed, according to the BBC. “During the altercation, the boyfriend was seen pouring a liquid on the woman before burning her.”
Chief Kosiom also told journalists that the alleged attacker also suffered serious burns. The pair are receiving specialized treatment at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in the nearby city of Eldoret.
Dr Owen Benach, the hospital’s senior director of clinical services, told journalists that “a high-profile patient” was “fully sedated because of the extent of the burns.” He stated that the hospital was well-equipped to handle the difficult situation in which both patients were in.
According to a report published by the Kenyan Bureau of National Statistics in January 2023, 34% of Kenyan women have experienced physical violence since the age of fifteen.
Damaris Mutua, another female runner, was discovered strangled in a home with a pillow over her face in Iten, Rift Valley, in April 2022.
It occurred months after record-breaking long-distance runner Agnes Tirop was discovered stabbed to death in the same town.
In both cases, the authorities have identified their partners as the primary suspect. Ms Tirop’s husband is currently charged with murder, which he denies, and the search for Ms Mutua’s boyfriend continues.
Rebecca Cheptegei finished 44th in the marathon at the recent Paris Olympics. She also won gold in the 2022 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
