Ugandan long-distance athlete Rebecca Cheptegei is dead.
Cheptegei succumbed to 80% burns she sustained after allegedly being set ablaze by her estranged Kenyan boyfriend, Dickson Ndiema, at their home in Kinyoro, Trans Nzoia County.
The 33-year-old athlete breathed her last on Thursday, September 5, while undergoing treatment at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) in Eldoret.
Sports Principal Secretary Peter Tum had on Wednesday said the ministry was planning to airlift the Olympian to Nairobi for a specialised care.
In the incident on Monday, September 2, Cheptegei and her former partner Dickson Ndiema were embroiled in a domestic dispute.
The area chief, Rose Chebet, said the dispute culminated in Ndiema pouring petrol on his wife and igniting it.
The fire quickly engulfed her and in a distressing turn of events, the fire also caught Ndiema when he lit the matchstick.
Their neighbours quickly responded to their distress call and rushed them to Kitale Level Four Hospital, where they were admitted with serious burn injuries. The two would later be referred to MTRH for specialised treatment.
Notably, Cheptegei participated in the 10,000 metre race at the concluded Paris Olympics but finished in position 48.
She won gold in the 2021 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships held in Thailand in 2022.