Paris to honour Olympic runner set on fire by ex-boyfriend

A sports venue in Paris will be named after Ugandan Olympic runner Rebecca Cheptegei, who died after her ex-boyfriend allegedly set her on fire, the French capital’s mayor has announced.

The 33-year-old mother died on Thursday with severe burns after her former partner allegedly doused her in petrol and set her on fire outside her home in north-western Kenya on Sunday.

Police in western Kenya have told the BBC they are treating Cheptegei’s death as murder. They previously said an investigation was under way.

Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo said dedicating a sports venue after Cheptegei would help “her memory and her story remain among us”.

Cheptegei competed in the Olympic marathon in Paris, coming 44th in a time of two hours 32 minutes and 14 seconds.

Ms Hidalgo told reporters the runner “dazzled us” at the Olympic Games in the French capital, adding that “Paris will not forget her”.

“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,” she said.

“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.”

Joan Chelimo, a fellow athlete of Cheptegei’s, said women need to “come together” following the incident.

“I knew Rebecca as a person: we were together at the Paris Olympics. She was a mum, she had been hard working to be at the Olympics,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour.

“She was the breadwinner of her family and you can imagine other girls were looking up to her.”

Ms Chelimo added: “We are still hoping, and trying to hope, that the perpetrators will be held accountable for their wrongdoings.”

At 19 years old, Cheptegei first represented Uganda in an under-20 race at the 2010 World Cross Country Championships and later transitioned to longer road races, making her marathon debut in 2021.

She recorded a personal best of two hours 22 minutes and 47 seconds the following year, making her the second-fastest Ugandan woman of all time.

Cheptegei was able to support her family with her earnings from running.

Ms Chelimo said she thinks some men feel “intimidated” by female athletes who are “going beyond the traditional norms of men providing everything”.

“They are becoming more financially stable, they are becoming more independent, and I think their ex-partners don’t like the fact we are becoming independent, we are raising our voices more.”

A report filed by a local administrator alleged the athlete and her ex-partner had been wrangling over a piece of land.

Attacks on women have become a major concern in Kenya. In 2022 at least 34% of women said they had experienced physical violence, according to a national survey.

“More needs to be done,” Ms Chelimo said. “We are really hoping that now it’s another wake up call and for us to come together.”