Recently, it was reported that Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei tragically passed away on Thursday, after sustaining severe injuries from being set on fire by her boyfriend at her home in Kenya.
This devastating incident marks the third instance of a female athlete being killed by her partner since 2021. Interestingly, all three cases took place in Iten, Kenya, a renowned hub for elite runners according to a report by the BBC.
Cheptegei, who trained in Kenya, began her international career at the age of 19 and transitioned to road racing, achieving a personal best time of 2:22:47 in the marathon, making her the second-fastest Ugandan female runner in history.
Due to her achievements in the game, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo recently announced that the city will honor her by dedicating a sports facility in her name.
Three years before Cheptegei’s avoidable demise, the husband of renowned long-distance athlete Agnes Tirop was identified as the prime suspect in Tirop’s brutal murder in 2021.
Tirop, a successful athlete with multiple international achievements, was fatally stabbed, leading to a widespread outcry and investigation.
Additionally, another female Olympian, Damaris Mutua, met a tragic fate when she was strangled by her boyfriend, who then fled the country to escape justice.
These incidents shed light on a larger issue in Kenya. The latest data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, released in January 2023, revealed that 34% of women in Kenya have experienced physical violence at some point in their lives since the age of 15.
In response to these tragedies, there have been calls for greater awareness and action to address gender-based violence and protect women in the sports community.
