Kampala (Reuters)
Ugandan Olympic runner Rebecca Cheptegei, who died after her ex-boyfriend allegedly doused her with petrol and set her on fire, is due to be buried with military honours on Saturday.
Cheptegei returned to her home in the highlands of western Kenya, an area popular with international runners because of its high-altitude training facilities, after finishing 44th in the marathon at the Paris Summer Olympics on August 11, her final race.
Three weeks later, Cheptegei’s ex-boyfriend Dickson Ndima Marangash was suspected of attacking her as she returned from church with her two daughters and younger sister in the village of Kinyoro, Kenyan police and her family said.
Her father, Joseph Cheptege, said his daughter had called police at least three times to file complaints against Marangash, most recently on Aug. 30, two days before the attack, which her ex-boyfriend is suspected of carrying out.
She suffered burns to 80 percent of her body, and died of her injuries four days later.
“I don’t think I will survive if I die, just bury my body in my hometown in Uganda,” she told her father while receiving treatment in the hospital.
Born in eastern Uganda in 1991, Cheptegei met Marangash during a training visit to Kenya and later moved to the country to pursue her dream of becoming a top runner.
Marangash died a few days after Cheptigi from burns he suspected he had sustained during the attack.
The circumstances of Cheptigi’s death shocked the world, but her name could inspire future athletes; the French capital is planning to name a sports facility after her in her honour.
“She has amazed us here in Paris, we have seen her, we have seen her beauty, her strength, her drive, and Paris will not forget her,” Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo told reporters.
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