Julius OkorieHost City of the 33rd Olympics, Paris is to name a sports venue after Ugandan Olympic marathon runner, Rebecca Cheptegei who lost her life following brutal attack by her former boyfriend in Kenya.
Paris Mayor, Anne Hidalgo, announced that the plan aimed at ensuring her memory endures and symbolising the message of equality promoted by the Olympic and Paralympic Games, according to Times of India.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelCheptegei, who competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics, was killed after being set on fire by her partner, leaving the world in shock.
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Police said a man identified as Dickson Ndiema Marangach had doused Cheptegei with petrol and set her alight at her home in Endebess in the western county of Trans-Nzoia. The 33-year-old coincidentally making Olympic marathon debut in the 33rd edition of the Olympics reportedly died four days after the heinous attack.
“Paris will not forget her. We’ll dedicate a sports venue to her so that her memory and her story remain among us and help carry the message of equality, which is a message carried by the Olympic and Paralympic Games,” Hidalgo added.
“She dazzled us here in Paris. We saw her. Her beauty, her strength, her freedom, and it was in all likelihood her beauty, strength, and freedom that were intolerable for the person who committed this murder,” Hidalgo told reporters.
Cheptegei, 33, made her Olympic debut in the women’s marathon at the Paris Games, where she finished 44th.
Police and doctors say she was left with 80 per cent burns after being attacked in front of her children on Sunday by her Kenyan partner, Dickson Ndiema Marangach.
Her reported attacker was also hospitalised after being injured in the attack. She died due to multiple organ failure as a result of her burns at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret on 5 September, at the age of 33.
Attacker Must Face Prosecution After Recovery
Cheptegei is the third prominent woman athlete to be killed in Kenya since October 2021. Kenyan Sports Minister Kipchumba Murkomen described Cheptegei’s death as a loss “to the entire region” and said the government would ensure justice.
“This is a critical moment — not just to mourn the loss of a remarkable Olympian, but to commit ourselves to creating a society that respects and protects the dignity of every individual,” Uganda athletes commission chair Ganzi Semu Mugula said Friday.
Meanwhile The father of Rebecca Cheptegei has cried out in demand for justice.
“I have a lot of grief because I’ve lost my daughter,” Joseph Cheptegei told reporters at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) in Eldoret, Kenya on Thursday, September 5, where the long-distance runner died. “I seek your help so that this person who has killed my daughter can be prosecuted.”
Julius Okorie is Chief Sports and Entertainment Correspondent for Prime Business Africa. He began his journalism career with the Champion Newspaper and Sporting Champion and later moved on to Daily Independent and the Nation Newspapers. Okorie joined Prime Business Africa in 2024 bringing on board 20 years of experience in writing investigative news on Sports and Entertainment. His well researched and highly informative articles on Sports Business and general entertainment are followed by a wide range of audience.
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