Ugandan Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei hospitalised after being set on fire

A Ugandan Olympic runner has been hospitalised in Kenya after being set on fire by her partner, according to police.

Rebecca Cheptegie, who competed last month in the Paris Olympic Games, suffered burns to three-quarters of her body when her partner poured petrol on her and set her ablaze, police reported late on Monday.

The attack took place on Sunday afternoon at Cheptegie’s home in Kenya’s western Trans Nzoia County. The 33-year-old athlete is now in critical condition in a hospital in Eldoret, Kenya.

Her Kenyan partner and alleged assailant, Dickson Ndiema Marangach, was also injured by the flames, according to police, who said he broke into Cheptegie’s home while she was at church.

Cheptegie’s parents, who are reportedly on their way to see her from Uganda, said their daughter bought a home and land in the area to take advantage of its training facilities.

Cheptegie, who placed 44th in the women’s marathon at the 2024 Olympics, is not the first high-profile athlete to make headlines as the victim of domestic assault in Kenya.

In 2021, record-breaking Kenyan runner Agnes Tirop was found stabbed to death in her home. Tirop’s estranged husband Emmanuel Ibrahim Rotich, who denies involvement, is now being tried for her murder.

Tirop’s family and fellow Kenyan athletes launched a foundation in her honour to combat gender-based violence – Tirop’s Angels – which recently opened a centre in Kenya’s western town of Iten.