Rebecca Cheptegei, a Ugandan long-distance runner who competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics before she was severely burned in an attack, died in Kenya on Thursday. She was 33.
She died at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in the city of Eldoret in an intensive care unit, said Dr. Owen Menach, who is on staff at the hospital. The cause was multiple organ failure, he said in a phone interview. The Kenyan police had said that a man with whom she was in a relationship set her on fire with gasoline on Sunday.
Her kidneys had failed at the time of her hospitalization after she sustained burns to 80 percent of her body, Dr. Menach said.
Cheptegei, a professional athlete, placed 44th in the marathon at the Paris Olympics in August. She had qualified for the race after finishing the Abu Dhabi Marathon in 2022 in 2 hours, 22 minutes and 47 seconds, her best time.
She won the 2022 Up and Downhill race at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Thailand. In 2023, she finished 14th in the marathon at the World Championships in Hungary. At the 2024 African Games in Ghana, she finished fourth in the half marathon.
Her attacker was identified by the police as Dickson Ndiema, who was said to be in a relationship with her. Her father, Joseph Cheptegei, said that the two had been involved in a property dispute. The police said that he had entered her home in Kenya with a jerrycan of gasoline, poured it on her and set her on fire.
The Kenyan authorities were investigating the circumstances of her death, Peter Ogwang, Uganda’s state minister for sports, said on social media after her death.
“This was a cowardly and senseless act that has led to the loss of a great athlete,” Donald Rukare, the president of the Uganda Olympic Committee, said on social media. -newyorktimes.com
