Rebecca Cheptegei

Rebecca Cheptegei (22 February 1991 – 5 September 2024) was a Ugandan cross country, long-distance and marathon runner, who was the national record holder in the latter discipline and a former world champion in mountain running.

She represented Uganda at several World Championships since 2010, including IAAF World Cross Country Championships, World Mountain and Trail Running Championships and World Athletics Championships. She also competed in the women's marathon at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. She died on 5 September 2024 of an alleged domestic violence attack over a land dispute with her former partner.

Life

Rebecca Cheptegei was born in Cheminy, Uganda, on 22 February 1991. She later moved to Kenya and bought property there to be closer to athletic training centres. She finished 15th in the U20 race in the 38th IAAF World Cross Country Championships, Myslecinek Park, Bydgoszcz in 2010. In May of the same year, she won the 1500m race in München Pfingstmeeting, München, Germany before going on to finish 19th in the 800m race at Rehlingen Pfingstsportfest, Rehlingen 2 days later. She also participated in the Regensburg Sparkassen-Gala, Regensburg in the 1500m race, where she finished 15th. Cheptegei also participated in the Janusz Kusociński Memorial, Warsaw 1500m race finishing 10th and won the Kampala 10,000 m race in Kampala, Uganda.

In 2011, Cheptegei started the year off finishing 55th in the senior race final at the 39th IAAF World Cross Country Championships, Punta Umbria. She came 2nd at the Madrid Half Marathon. She later finished 3rd in the Camargo Spanish 10,000 m Road Running Championships, Camargo, and then participated in the Rio de Janeiro CISM Military World Games Women's 5000 metres. She came in 2nd in the Cantalejo Half Marathon, Cantalejo before finishing off 10th at the 10 km race at the Lisboa São Silvestre da Amadora, Lisboa.

Cheptegei finished 68th in the senior race at the 40th IAAF World Cross Country Championships at Myslecinek Park, Bydgoszcz, Poland, in 2013. She also won the 47th running of the Cross Internacional Ciutat de Granollers. She concluded the year by winning the 10,000 m in the Crevillente San Silvestre. Cheptegei finished 14th in the 5000 meters at the Meeting Iberoamericano de Atletismo, Huelva, in 2014, and 8th in the 3000m race at the Bilbao Reunion Internacional de Atletismo. She went on to win the Santa Pola 10 km, Santa Pola and finished 3rd in the 2014 African Cross Country Championships, Kampala.

Cheptegei finished 3rd in the Quanzhou Half Marathon in 2016, and 12th in the Shanghai Half Marathon in 2017. In the same year, she finished 3rd and 2nd in the 5 km and 10,000 m race, respectively, at the Kampala Ugandan Championships. She ended the year in 4th place at the Brazzaville Half Marathon. In 2019, she finished 2nd in the Semi Marathon Eiffage de Dakar, Dakar and 5th in the 10,000 m at the Ugandan Champions Mandela National Stadium, Kampala. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, Cheptegei did not race again until 2021, when she earned 3rd and 5th place finishes in the 4th and 7th UAF Trials, Mandela National Stadium, Kampala respectively. She finished 47th in the Eldoret City Marathon before coming in 2nd in the Kampala Half Marathon later that year.

Cheptegei won the 2022 Padova Marathon and was 2nd in the 10,000 m at the Ugandan Championships, Kampala. In the same year, she set a Ugandan national record of 2:22:47 in the marathon event, and won the postponed 2021 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Chiang Mai, Thailand. She ended the year with a 4th place finish in the ADNOC Abu Dhabi Marathon. This earned her a place to represent Uganda in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. In 2023, she finished second at the Firenze Marathon and 14th at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest. In 2024, she qualified for, and competed for Uganda at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France in the women's marathon, finishing in 44th place.

Death

On 1 September 2024, Cheptegei was attacked and set on fire in her residence in Trans-Nzoia County, Kenya. She sustained burns covering 80% of her body, leaving her in critical condition in hospital. Police reported that her former partner doused her with petrol and set her ablaze. Her alleged attacker was also hospitalised after being injured in the attack. She died due to multiple organ failure as a result of her burns at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret on 5 September, at the age of 33.