Olympic runner set on fire by former boyfriend dies

Tributes have been paid to the Ugandan marathon runner Rebecca Cheptegei, who has died days after she was set on fire following an argument with a former boyfriend in Kenya.

- JAMIE BRAIDWOOD

Cheptegei, who competed in the marathon at the Paris Olympics, suffered severe burns on more than 75 per cent of her body after she was doused in petrol and set ablaze outside her house, police said.

Police in northwest Kenya, where Cheptegei lived and trained, say an investigation into her death is underway. Authorities said Cheptegei and her ex-boyfriend were heard arguing over land before she was set on fire.

Cheptegei, who was 33, is the latest victim of attacks on female athletes in Kenya. In 2021, Agnes Tirop, a rising athletics star in Kenya and two-time World Championship bronze medallist, was found dead in her home with stab wounds to her neck. Her husband was charged with her murder but pleaded not guilty, and the case is ongoing.

In 2022, Kenyan-born Bahraini athlete Damaris Muthee Mutua was found dead with a post-mortem examination report stating that she was strangled. Mutua’s boyfriend was identified as the main suspect and police are still searching for him.

Tirop’s death at the age of 25 shocked Kenya and led to current and former athletes setting up the non-profit charity foundation Tirop’s Angels to combat domestic violence against women and girls.