The Ugandan marathon runner represented her nation at each the Paris Olympics and the World Championships in Budapest
Olympic marathon runner Rebecca Cheptegei is in important situation in hospital after allegedly been doused in petrol and set on hearth by a former boyfriend.
The 33-year-old, who represented Uganda on the current Paris Olympics and final 12 months’s World Championships in Budapest, was attacked in her house in Endebess, Western Kenya.
Cheptegei suffered burns to 75% of her physique and he or she was reportedly rescued by neighbours when the incident occurred (September 1).
Trans Nzoia County’s police commander Jeremiah ole Kosiom instructed journalists that the alleged attacker additionally sustained critical burns.
He added: “The couple had been heard quarrelling exterior their home. Through the altercation, the boyfriend was seen pouring a liquid on the girl earlier than burning her.”
A report filed by a neighborhood administrator within the area mentioned that the previous boyfriend had attacked Cheptegei because of a disagreement over the land wherein her house was constructed on.
Rebecca Cheptegei in Budapest (Getty)
After studying of the assault, the Ugandan Athletics Federation acknowledged: “We remorse to announce that our athlete Rebecca Cheptegei, who competed on the Olympics has suffered extreme accidents and is hospitalised at Moi Instructing and Referral Hospital in Eldoret. This follows an incident involving her Kenyan boyfriend pouring petrol and setting hearth on her.”
In addition to competing within the marathon on the Olympics and World Championships, Cheptegei additionally gained gold on the 2022 World Mountain and Path Operating Championships in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
She is the newest sufferer in assaults throughout feminine athletes in Kenya.
Again in October 2021 Agnes Tirop, who was a double world 10,000m medallist and a earlier holder of the ladies’s-only world 10km document, was discovered stabbed to loss of life.
Within the wake of her killing, Tirop’s Angels was based – an organisation based by Kenyan athletes and Tirop’s household – to face in unity in opposition to gender-based violence.
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The submit Rebecca Cheptegei combating for all times after petrol assault appeared first on AW.