World Athletics president Lord Coe has pledged to look at ways to better protect female athletes following the tragic death of marathon runner Rebecca Cheptegei.
The Ugandan, who finished 44th in last month’s Olympic marathon in Paris, was allegedly doused in petrol and set on fire by her ex-boyfriend on Sunday following an argument at her home in Kenya.
Cheptegei suffered burns over 80 percent of her body and was treated in intensive care at hospital before being pronounced dead in the early hours of Thursday.
The 33-year-old’s death comes just over two years after that of Bahraini-born Kenyan runner Damaris Mutua, who was found strangled with a pillow over her face in the Rift Valley town of Iten.
In October 2011, Kenyan Agnes Tirop, a double bronze medallist at the World 10,000m Championships, was also found stabbed to death in the same town.
World Athletics president Lord Coe has pledged to do more to protect female athletes following the death of Rebecca Cheptegei (pictured centre)
Cheptegei was allegedly doused with petrol and set on fire by her ex-boyfriend on Sunday
Coe revealed that he had been in contact with our board members in Africa to see how he could help.
In both cases, the athletes’ partners have been identified as the main suspects. Tirop’s husband is accused of murder, which he denies, while the search for Mutua’s boyfriend is ongoing.
Following the announcement of Cheptegei’s death on Thursday, World Athletics President Coe said: “Our sport has lost a talented athlete in the most tragic and unthinkable circumstances.
“Rebecca was an incredibly versatile runner who still had a lot to give on the roads, mountains and cross-country trails.
“I have reached out to our board members in Africa to see how we can help, not only as the governing body of the sport in which Rebecca competed, but also to assess how our safeguarding policies could be enhanced to include abuse outside of sport, and to bring together stakeholders from all areas of athletics to join forces to protect our female athletes to the best of our ability from abuse of all kinds.”
Renowned TV sports commentator Rob Walker wrote on X: “I have witnessed great progress in East Africa over the last 20 years. But the treatment of successful female athletes by jealous husbands/boyfriends now needs to be addressed. It is absolutely appalling.”
Reports of assaults against women are on the rise in Kenya and the country’s Sports Minister, Kipchumba Murkomen, added: “This tragedy is a stark reminder of the urgent need to tackle gender-based violence, which is increasingly affecting even elite sport.”
Cheptegei began her career in 2010 and initially ran over 1,500m before moving on to longer distances. She finished second in the Madrid and Cantalejo half marathons in 2011.
Sports commentator Rob Walker has called for ‘targeting jealous husbands/boyfriends’
Walker took to social media to express his views following the news Thursday morning.
Agnes Tirop was found stabbed to death in 2011, and her husband is charged with murder
Agnes Tirop is pictured with her husband Ibrahim Rotich, who is currently on trial, accused of murdering the promising track star
In 2022, she won gold in both the uphill and downhill mountain race at the inaugural World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Thailand.
Cheptegei also won the Padua Marathon in Italy earlier that year, before finishing second in the Abu Dhabi Marathon in 2hr 22min 47sec – the second fastest time by a Ugandan woman.
She finished 14th in the marathon at the World Championships in Budapest last year, then 44th at the Paris Olympics in 2:32:14.
James Kirwa, another Ugandan runner, said: “She was a very kind person. She helped us all, even financially, and she brought me training shoes when she came back from the Olympics. She was like a big sister to me.”