Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei Set on Fire in Gasoline Attack Weeks After 2024 Paris Games

Content warning: This article contains mention of domestic violence.

Rebecca Cheptegei is in critical condition.  

Three weeks after competing at the 2024 Olympics, the distance runner representing Uganda is in the hospital after she was set on fire by her alleged boyfriend, Dickson Ndiema, at her Kenyan residence Aug. 2, Tranz Nzoi Country Police said per the BBC. 

"The couple were heard quarreling outside their house," police chief Jeremiah Ole Kosiom told reporters, according to the outlet. "During the altercation, the boyfriend was seen pouring a liquid on the woman before burning her." 

The 33-year-old—who placed 44th during the women's marathon at the Paris Games Aug. 11—is being treated in the ICU for burns on 75 percent of her body in addition to inhalation burns. Kosiom also shared with Kenya's The Star that her boyfriend was also admitted with burns covering 30 percent of his body. 

Authorities said, per the publication, that the suspect snuck into Cheptegei’s home with a five-liter can of gasoline while the athlete was at church. The suspect reportedly doused her with the liquid when she returned and lit her on fire. Neighbors told the police they heard the altercation and pulled the pair out of the flames. They were rushed to the hospital.

The heartbreaking news comes nearly two years after two high-profile female athletes in Kenya were killed. Distance runner Agnes Tirop, 25, was found with stab wounds in her neck in October 2021, according to police reports per Reuters. The main suspect was her husband, Ibrahim Rotich, who was charged the following month for her murder. The 43-year-old denied the charges and is still awaiting his trial.  

And in April 2022, runner Damaris Mutua was found strangled in a rental home. The main suspect in her killing was her boyfriend Eskinder Hailemariam Folie, Kenya's Nation reported at the time. According to Iten police commander Tom Makori, per the outlet, he confessed to a friend that he killed her before going into hiding. He is wanted for arrest, according to authorities, The New Yorker reported in April 2023.

Following Mutua's death, Kenyan runner Mary Keitany pointed to the overarching conversation surrounding the athletes' deaths. As a recent report from the Kenya Demographic Health Survey found that 40 percent of women in the country have experienced physical or sexual violence from their partners at least once during their lives.  

"The elephant in the room is gender-based violence, which is now rife among athletes," Keitany told Nation at the time. "We are calling for concerted efforts to sensitize athletes to run away from abuse, which is leading to loss of lives."

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