Violence against women athletes in Kenya continues to rage on as Ugandan marathon runner Rebecca Cheptegei, a 2024 Paris Olympics participant is in critical condition after allegedly being set on fire by her former boyfriend, Dickson Ndiema, in western Kenya.
According to the BBC, the 33-year-old athlete has suffered burns to over 75 percent of her body, according to local police.
The heinous attack occurred at Cheptegei’s home in the small town of Endebess, where she had been training.
Cheptegei is said to have been rescued by neighbors as the fire blazed. She was returning from church with her two children when she was targeted.
The alleged attacker also sustained serious burns, local police chief Jeremiah ole Kosiom told journalists. Both are currently being treated at Moi Referral Hospital in Eldoret.
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“The couple were heard quarreling outside their house. During the altercation, the boyfriend was seen pouring a liquid on the woman before burning her,” local police chief Jeremiah Kosiom said to reporters.
Cheptegei, who finished 44th in the marathon at the Paris Olympics and snatched a gold at the 2022 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Chiang Mai, Thailand, is from a region just across the Ugandan border.
She purchased land in Kenya’s Trans Nzoia County and built a home near the country’s elite athletic training centers.
According to reports, the house became a point of contention for the couple. A local administrator reported that they were quarreling over finances dealing with the property. This is a huge piece of information as the police have launched an investigation into the motive behind the gruesome attack.
Cheptegei is an athlete who has brought great pride to her country. With burns over that significant portion of her body the rehabilitation and healing process will take some time. There’s also a possibility that her medical condition could worsen, so her future as a runner is cast with much doubt.
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The incident has put the spotlight on increasing violence against female athletes in Kenya. Running is Kenya’s most well-known pastime. Kenya won its first Olympic medal in track in 1964, the year after it gained independence from Britain. Kenyan women started dominating long-distance running back in the ’90s.
Agnes Tirop a rising Kenyan star was killed by her coach/boyfriend, stabbed to death in a jealous rage at age 25, in 2021. Tirop won bronze medals in the 10,000 meters at the 2017 and 2019 World Athletics Championships. At the 2015 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, Tirop became the second-youngest ever gold medalist in the women’s race, after Zola Budd. At the time of her death in 2021, she was the world-record holder in the 10 kilometers for women.
Agnes had just returned from a race in Switzerland. Her brother Martin went to her house, he told CNN that he “peeked through a window to see her body slumped in a pool of blood near her bedroom door.”
She had stab wounds in her neck and was wearing her Adidas sports bra and shorts. Martin believes she was probably headed out for a run when she was attacked.
In 2022, the decomposing body of 28-year-old Damaris Mutua, another sprinter, was found in a rental house in Lillies estates, lying on the bed with a pillow on her face. An investigation reveal she was strangled in her home in the Rift Valley town of Iten by her suspected Ethiopian lover, further highlighting concerns about the safety of women in sports.
Men have also been victims of violence in the area. Ugandan athlete, Benjamin Kiplagat was stabbed to death by assailants in Eldoret.