Thirty-three-year-old Olympic marathon runner from Uganda, Rebecca Cheptegei, passed away on Thursday, four days after her lover in Kenya doused her in gasoline and set her on fire.
Kenyan and Ugandan media reported that Cheptegeil who competed in the Paris Olympics, suffered burns to more than 75% of her body in Sunday’s attack.
“We have learnt of the sad passing on of our Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei… following a vicious attack by her boyfriend,” Donald Rukare, president of Uganda Olympics Committee, said in a post on X.
“May her gentle soul rest in peace and we strongly condemn violence against women,” he said.
The runner, who finished 44th in Paris, was admitted to a hospital in the Kenyan Rift Valley city of Eldoret after the attack.
Cheptegei “passed today morning at 5:30 am after her organs failed,” Owen Menach, senior director of clinical services at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, told Reuters, adding that a full report regarding the circumstances of her death would be released on Thursday afternoon.
According to Kenyan newspaper The Standard, her attacker also sustained injuries in the incident and was admitted to the intensive care unit with 30% burns, citing doctors at the same hospital.
Source: Reuters
