What happened to Rebecca Cheptegei? All about Ugandan athlete's tragic murder after being set on fire by ex-boyfriend in Kenya

Ugandan runner Rebecca Cheptegei, who specialized in long-distance, marathon running, and cross-country events, tragically passed away on September 5, Thursday, after sustaining extensive burns on her body in a house fire in Kenya. To stay near Athletics training centers, the 33-year-old had earlier purchased a property in Kenya's Trans Nzoia County, eventually building her house there.

Dr. Owen Menach, the acting CEO of Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, stated that she died after about 80 percent of her body was burned in the fire, which was allegedly started by her boyfriend, Dickson Ndiema Marangach.

According to reports by the local police, gasoline had been poured on her body. After the incident took place on Sunday, she had been receiving treatment at the hospital located in Eldoret, Kenya.

After the Uganda Athletics Federation shared the news on X, Peter Ogwang, who currently serves as the Minister of State for Sports in the Ugandan Cabinet expressed his condolences. He said via X:

“The Kenyan authorities are investigating the circumstances under which she died and a more detailed report & program will be provided in due course.

“I send my deepest condolences to the family, relatives, sports fraternity and Ugandans at large.”

Notably, Cheptegei was among the 24 athletes who represented Uganda at the 2024 Paris Olympics, held about a month ago. She competed in the women’s marathon on August 11 where she finished 44th with a season-best performance of 2:32:14. Sifan Hassan was the gold medalist with an Olympic record time of 2:22:55, while Tigst Assefa and Hellen Obiri won the silver and bronze respectively in the race.

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A look at Rebecca Cheptegei’s achievements

Rebecca Cheptegei of Uganda in the women's Marathon Final at the World Athletics Championships Budapest 2023. (Photo by Sam Mellish/Getty Images)

Rebecca Cheptegei, who started racing competitively in 2010, recorded a national record time of 2:22:47 (yet to be ratified) at the 2022 ADNOC Abu Dhabi Marathon in which she finished fourth in the race in what was a non-mixed race.

The year 2022 also saw her emerging as the winner of the Padova Marathon held in Italy with a time of 2:31:21 in April. Two months later, she placed second at the Ugandan Championships, clocking a time of 32:53.23 in the women’s 10,000m.

She also won the Up and downhill mountain race at the 2021 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships. Besides featuring at the Paris Olympics, Rebecca Cheptegei also participated at the African Games in the half-marathon (1:15:20) and Doha Marathon (2:34:08) this year where she achieved fourth and seventh-place finishes respectively.

Cheptegei also appeared at the 2023 World Athletics Championships where she finished 14th in a time of 2:29:34 in the women’s marathon event.