Rebecca Cheptegei

Cheptegei in 2023

Rebecca Cheptegei (22 February 1991 – 5 September 2024) was a Ugandan cross country, long-distance and marathon runner. She competed in the women's marathon at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Cheptegei was born in Cheminy, Uganda.

Cheptegei won the 2022 Padova Marathon and was 2nd in the 10,000 m at the Ugandan Championships, Kampala. In the same year, she set a Ugandan national record of 2:22:47 in the marathon event, and won the 2021 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Chiang Mai, Thailand.[1]

On 1 September 2024, Cheptegei was set on fire at her home in Trans-Nzoia County, Kenya by her former boyfriend.[2] She was hospitalized and had burns covering 80% of her body.[2][3] She died from multiple organ failure because of her burns at a hospital in Eldoret, Kenya on 5 September, at the age of 33.[4]

References

  1. ↑ "Cheptegei, 2022 world mountain running champion, dies tragically". World Athletics. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Olympic marathon runner fighting for life after being set on fire by boyfriend". The Independent. 2024-09-04. Retrieved 2024-09-04.
  3. ↑ "Ugandan marathon runner Cheptegei burnt after being doused with petrol". Reuters. 3 September 2024. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
  4. ↑ "Uganda's Olympian Cheptegei dies after being set on fire by boyfriend". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2024-09-05.

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