Rebecca Cheptegei: Ugandan Olympic runner set on fire by her boyfriend

A Ugandan athlete residing in Kenya was attacked and set on hearth by her boyfriend and is receiving remedy for burns on 75% of her physique, police stated.

Rebecca Cheptegei, a distance runner who completed on the forty fourth place on the 2024 Paris Olympics, was attacked in her home within the western Trans Nzoia County.

Trans Nzoia County Police Commander Jeremiah ole Kosiom stated Monday that Cheptegei’s boyfriend, Dickson Ndiema, purchased a jerrican of petrol, poured it on her and set her ablaze throughout a disagreement Sunday. Ndiema additionally sustained burn wounds, and the 2 are receiving specialised remedy on the Moi Instructing and Referral Hospital in Eldoret metropolis.

Cheptegei’s dad and mom stated their daughter purchased land in Trans Nzoia to be close to the county’s many athletic coaching facilities.

A report filed by the native chief states the couple was heard combating over the land the place the home was constructed earlier than the hearth began.

In 2023, Ugandan Olympic runner and steeplechaser Benjamin Kiplagat was discovered lifeless with stab wounds. In 2022, Kenyan-born Bahraini athlete Damaris Muthee was discovered lifeless. A postmortem report stated she was strangled.