Ugandan marathoner Rebecca Cheptegei's ex-lover dies

Athlete Rebeca Cheptegei's ex-lover Dickson Ndiema has died at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret.

The hospital on Wednesday confirmed that Ndiema succumbed on Tuesday night to the wounds incurred from the incident that saw him suffer burns to 30 per cent of his body.

He had been admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) following an altercation that allegedly saw Ndiema douse Cheptegei in petrol before setting her on fire.

Cheptegei passed on at the same hospital last week after suffering burns to 80 per cent of her body.

At the same time, Cheptegei will be buried this coming Saturday ( September 14, 2024) in Kongasis Sub County in Bukwo district, eastern Uganda

Being a member of the Uganda People's Defense Forces (UPDF), she will be laid to rest with full military honours.

Bukwo, the location of her family home, is situated near the Kenyan border, roughly 380 kilometres northeast of Uganda's capital, Kampala.

Benjamin Njia, Vice President of the Uganda Athletics Federation, announced on Sunday that further funeral details would be shared soon.

Uganda's Rebecca Cheptegei in action during a past women's marathon race. (Photo: REUTERS/Dylan Martinez)

"As we mourn our national champion, the family has settled on Saturday as the burial date, but we are still waiting for the finer details, both from the government and the family," Njia said.

Autopsy

The athlete's father, Mzee Joseph Cheptegei, announced that a postmortem will take place on September 11, 2024.

Following the postmortem, the body will be released from the morgue on Thursday morning and handed over to the family and UPDF.

Subsequently, it will be escorted to her residence in Endebes, Trans Nzoia, where a night vigil will be held.

On Friday, the body will then be transported by road to Bukwo in Uganda for another overnight vigil, leading up to the burial on Saturday.

Cheptegei, a distinguished marathon runner who proudly represented Uganda at the 2024 Paris Olympics, concluded her race in the women's marathon at the 44th position.

Her athletic journey also included participation in the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, where she achieved a commendable 14th place. Notably, Cheptegei held Uganda's national marathon record, completing the distance in 2:22:47, and had been preparing for the upcoming 2025 World Military Games in Switzerland.

Her untimely passing is deeply mourned in both Kenya and Uganda, particularly within the Sabaot community, one of the nine sub-tribes of the Kalenjin people spanning both nations.

Kapchorwa, the region where Cheptegei's family resides, has been a cradle of remarkable Ugandan athletes. Notable figures include world record holders Joshua Cheptegei and Jacob Kiplimo, Olympic medalist Peruth Chemutai, and marathon champion Victor Kiplangat.