Olympic marathon runner Rebecca Cheptegei fighting for life after being set on fire by boyfriend

A Ugandan athlete living in Kenya was attacked and set on fire by her boyfriend and is receiving treatment for burns on 75 per cent of her body, police said.

Rebecca Cheptegei, a distance runner who finished at the 44th position in the 2024 Paris Olympics, was attacked in her house in the western Trans Nzoia County.

Trans Nzoia County Police Commander Jeremiah ole Kosiom said on Monday 2 September that Cheptegei’s boyfriend, Dickson Ndiema, bought a jerry can of petrol, poured it on her and set her ablaze during a disagreement Sunday. Ndiema also sustained burn wounds, and the two are receiving specialized treatment at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret city.

“The couple were heard quarrelling outside their house. During the altercation, the boyfriend was seen pouring a liquid on the woman before burning her,” Kosiom told the Standard newspaper in Kenya.

“The suspect was also caught by the fire and sustained serious burns.”

The Ugandan Athletics Federation reported the attack on social media, saying: “We regret to announce that our athlete Rebecca Cheptegei, who competed at the Olympics has suffered severe injuries and is hospitalised at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret.

“This follows an incident involving her Kenyan boyfriend pouring petrol and setting fire on her.”

Cheptegei’s parents said their daughter bought land in Trans Nzoia to be near the county’s many athletic training centres.

A report filed by the local chief states that the couple was heard fighting over the land where the house was built before the fire started.

In 2023, Ugandan Olympic runner and steeplechaser Benjamin Kiplagat was found dead with stab wounds. In 2022, Kenyan-born Bahraini athlete Damaris Muthee was found dead with a postmortem report stating that she was strangled.