UGANDANS REACT TO DEATH OF OLYMPIC RUNNER REBECCA CHEPTEGEI

The tragic death of Olympian and long-distance runner Rebecca Cheptegai has deeply shocked many in her home country of Uganda. The 33-year-old passed away on Thursday morning from severe burns, days after her ex-boyfriend allegedly doused her in petrol and set her on fire outside her home in northwest Kenya.

She had recently competed in the Paris Olympics, finishing 44th with a time of two hours, 32 minutes, and 14 seconds. In Uganda's capital, Kampala, people have been expressing their shock and sadness over the news of her death.

Cheptegei was a Ugandan cross country, long-distance and marathon runner, who was the national record holder in the marathon and a former world champion in mountain running.

Since 2010, she had represented Uganda in numerous World Championships, and also competed in the women's marathon at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. In September 2024, she was tragically killed in an alleged domestic violence incident related to a land dispute with her former partner in Kenya.

Rebecca Cheptegei was born on the Kenyan side of the Kenya–Uganda border on 22 February 1991 and was the second of 13 siblings. She moved to the village of Chepkum in Kenya and bought property there to be closer to athletic training centres. 

She had two children and was formerly in a relationship with Dickson Ndiema Marangach. She joined the Uganda People's Defence Force in 2008 and rose to become a sergeant. She was also a member of its athletics club.

On 1 September 2024, Cheptegei was attacked and set on fire in her residence in Endebess, Trans-Nzoia County, Kenya. She sustained burns covering 80% of her body, leaving her in critical condition in hospital. Police allege Dickson Ndiema Marangach, her former partner, doused her with petrol and set her ablaze. Marangach allegedly attacked her after an argument about the property she had purchased and was also hospitalized after being injured in the attack.

Cheptegei died due to multiple organ failure as a result of her burns at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret on 5 September, at the age of 33.

On 6 September, the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, announced the city will honour Cheptegei by naming a sports venue after her. At the end of the women's marathon of the Paralympics, on 8 September, the organising committee held a minute of applause in her honour.

She will be laid to rest on 14 September at her ancestral home in Bukwo, Uganda.

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