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Paris to name sports venue after dead Ugandan Olympian Cheptegei


(FILES) (From L to R) Kenya's Rosemary Wanjiru, Israel's Lonah Chemtai Salpeter, Uganda's Rebecca Cheptegei and Kenya's Selly Chepyego Kaptich compete in the women's marathon final during the World Athletics Championships in Budapest on August 26, 2023. A Ugandan marathoner who competed at the Paris Olympics is in intensive care after  being set on fire alledgedly by her partner in Kenya, officials said on September 3, 2024, the latest horrific incident of gender-based violence in the East African country.
Long-distance runner Rebecca Cheptegei, 33, was assaulted after her Kenyan partner Dickson Ndiema Marangach reportedly snuck into her home in western Trans-Nzoia county on September 1, 2024 at around 2:00 pm while she and her children were at church, police said. (Photo by Ferenc ISZA / AFP)

Uganda’s Rebecca Cheptegei, left, competes in the women’s marathon final during the World Athletics Championships in Budapest on 26 August, 2023.
Photo: FERENC ISZA / AFP

The French capital will pay tribute to Ugandan Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei, who was set on fire by her boyfriend, by naming a sports facility in her honour, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has announced.

The marathon runner, who competed in the Paris Games last month died on Thursday, four days after she was doused in petrol and ignited by her boyfriend in Kenya, in the latest attack on a female athlete in the country.

The 33-year-old, who finished 44th in her Olympic Games debut, suffered burns to more than 75 percent of her body in Sunday’s attack, Kenyan and Ugandan media reported.

“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 which were intolerable for the person who committed this murder,” Hidalgo told reporters.

“Paris will not forget her. We’ll dedicate a sports venue to her so that her memory and her story remains among us and helps carry the message of equality, which is a message carried by the Olympic and Paralympic Games.”

Cheptegei is the third prominent sportswoman to be killed in Kenya since October 2021. Kenyan Sports Minister Kipchumba Murkomen described Cheptegei’s death as a loss “to the entire region”.

“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’s Athletes Commission chair Ganzi Semu Mugula said on Friday.

– Reuters



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