"He kicked me while I tried to run"- Rebecca Cheptegei's daughter recounts horrifying details after her mother was set on fire by ex-boyfriend

By Animesh Pandey

Modified Sep 07, 2024 05:47 GMT

Rebecca Cheptegei is no more! The former long-distance runner, who represented Uganda, met a tragic end at the hands of her former boyfriend, who reportedly set her ablaze. Rebecca was rushed to the hospital, where she breathed her last.

In an interview with the Kenyan paper The Standard, Rebecca's unnamed daughter shared her side of the story after she found her mother in distress. However, she was unsuccessful in her attempts to rescue her mother.

To quote Rebecca Cheptegei's daughter:

"He kicked me while I tried to run to the rescue of my mother. I immediately cried out for help, attracting a neighbor who tried to extinguish the flames with water, but it was not possible."

After the neighbors and Cheptegei's daughter managed to douse the flames, the Ugandan runner, who was living in Kenya due to proximity to the athletic centers, was rushed to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret, Kenya. However, she had suffered more than 75 percent burns to her body and passed away due to multiple organ failure.

According to the local reports, Dickson Ndiema sneaked into Rebecca Cheptegei's home. The two had a heated argument over a land dispute, following which Cheptegei's boyfriend doused her in petrol and set her ablaze.

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Rebecca Cheptegei's Track and Field career

Rebecca Cheptegei of Uganda [Image Source: Getty]

Rebecca Cheptegei represented Uganda for the first time in 2010 when she participated in the U20 race at the 38th IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland. She ended up at the fifteenth.

Subsequently, Rebecca tried her hands at various events, from women's 1500m to mountain trial races. Her first major success came at the Madrid Half Marathon in 2011, where she stood second.

Rebecca continued to face ups and downs for a while, until 2022, when she won the Padova Marathon in Italy, and subsequently stood second in the women's 10000m at the Ugandan Championships held in Kambala. However, she was not the one to stop at just that.

In the same year, Rebecca set a new national record of 2 hours, 22 minutes and 47 seconds at the Abu Dhabi Marathon, where she stood fourth overall. She also won a gold medal at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships held at Chiang Mai in Thailand.

Rebecca's performance helped her earn a berth at the women's marathon in the Paris Olympics 2024. However, she couldn't capitalize on this newfound success and ended up 44th overall. After her tragic demise, the mayor of Paris has decided to honor her efforts and name a sporting venue in Paris after her.