From Rebecca Cheptegei's murder to Agnes Tirop being stabbed by her husband: How track and field's biggest crisis is going under the radar in Kenya

Rebecca Cheptegei was murdered by her boyfriend (Image Source: Left - World Athletics, Right - Getty)
Rebecca Cheptegei was murdered by her boyfriend (Image Source: Left - World Athletics, Right - Getty)

On Tuesday, September 3, news of Olympic marathon runner Rebecca Cheptegei being set on fire by her boyfriend sent the global track and field world into a state of shock. Two days later, the Ugandan succumbed to her wounds while in the hospital.

Even as her loved ones and fans across the globe mourned the loss of the athlete, the incident brought back the memories of Agnes Tirop, the former 10 KM world record holder who was stabbed to death by her husband, and the underlying problem of violence against women plaguing Kenya.

Cheptegei was born in Uganda but moved to Kenya to be closer to the training centers that have churned out marathon greats for decades. Training in the home of the likes of Eliud Kipchoge, Kelvin Kiptum and Faith Kipyegon, the 33-year-old racked up an impressive list of achievements, including a Ugandan national record of 2:22:47 in the marathon, and a gold medal at the 2021 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships. In 2024, she represented Uganda at the Paris Olympics, finishing 44th in the marathon event.

On September 3, Rebecca Cheptegei got into an alleged altercation with her Kenyan boyfriend Dickson Ndiema, during which he bought a jerry can of petrol, poured it on her, and set her on fire. According to local media outlets, neighbors were forced to intervene to rescue the Ugandan and put out the fire. Ndiema also got caught up in the fire, sustaining serious burns.

Post this, Cheptegei succumbed to her wounds, with Dr Kimani Mbugua, a consultant at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret where the runner was being treated, telling local media that she “had a severe percentage of burns, which unfortunately led to multi-organ failure, which ultimately led to her passing.”

As her family mourns her death, there is now the pressing issue of finances. Cheptegei, a breadwinner for her family, leaves behind two children and younger siblings whose education now hangs in the balance.

“We have children in secondary schools and I don’t know how we are going to cope with this challenge to ensure they complete their studies,” the runner's father Mzee Joseph Cheptegei was quoted as saying by The Star.

Joseph Cheptegei also labeled his daughter's boyfriend a 'murderer' and asked for swift action from security officials.

“As it is now, the criminal who harmed my daughter is a murderer and I am yet to see what the security officials are doing. He is still free and might even flee," he was quoted a saying by AP.

As condolences pour in for Rebecca Cheptegei, so do the haunting memories of Agnes Tirop’s murder in 2021

Since Rebecca Cheptegei's death on September 5, the track and field world has been left in a state of disturbance. Condolences for the sprinter have come pouring in, as national federations, her fellow athletes and Olympians share memories of the runner and send strength to her family.

At the same time, for many who are a part of the Kenyan track and field world, the incident brings back the haunting memories of Agnes Tirop, the Kenyan runner who was stabbed to death in her own home.

In July 2021, Tirop finished fourth at the Tokyo Olympics in the 5000m. She then set a world record in a women-only 10-kilometer race. A little while after her achievement, the runner’s brother, Martin Tirop, found her body in a pool of blood in her own home, with stab wounds in her neck. Her husband Ibrahim Rotich is standing on trial for murder.

Agnes Tirop’s story is hauntingly similar to Rebecca Cheptegei’s. A rising star and the breadwinner for her family, Tirop's journey was cut short at 25, with her murder shining a spotlight on the growing problem of domestic violence against women in Kenya.

A little under six months after Tirop's murder, Kenyan-born Bahraini sprinter Damaris Mutua was found strangled to death in her own home, with her boyfriend being labeled the prime suspect for the murder.

Cheptegei, Tirop, and Mutua all fell victim to a much larger problem that women in Kenya face today. Domestic violence continues to run rampant in the country, with a 2022 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS) indicating that over 40 percent of women have experienced physical or sexual abuse at the hands of a partner in their lifetime.

A statistic just as jarring is the fact that an Afrobarometer survey in 2022 found that 69 percent of Kenyans believe that domestic violence should be treated as a private and not a criminal matter.

While the murder of Agnes Tirop had sent shockwaves through the Kenyan community, the death of Rebecca Cheptegei has proven that there has been little change since. As the world mourns for the lost life of Cheptegei, we must also collectively question the culture where such incidents have become a norm instead of the exception.

There must be accountability for those in charge to ensure that their responsibility extends beyond well-worded condolences. There must be action to ensure that Tirop, Mutua, and Cheptegei aren't reduced to yet another statistic.

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Edited by Vaishnavi Iyer
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