Ugandan Olympic marathon runner Rebecca Cheptegei dies after being attacked by her boyfriend

Cheptegei, who finished 44th in Paris, was taken to hospital in the Kenyan Rift Valley city of Eldoret after the attack.

Cheptegei “died of organ failure at 5:30am this morning,” Owen Menach, senior director of clinical services at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, told Reuters, adding that a full report on the circumstances of her death would be released shortly.

Peter Ogwang, Uganda's Minister of State for Sports, described her death as “tragic”.

“The Kenyan authorities are investigating the circumstances of her death and will provide a more detailed report and program in due course,” he said.

Cheptegei's death highlights the violence experienced by female athletes in Kenya, where she lived during her training.

In October 2021, Olympic runner Agnes Tirop, a rising star in Kenya's highly competitive athletics scene, was found dead in her home in the town of Iten with multiple stab wounds to her neck.

Her husband, Ibrahim Rotich, was charged with her murder and pleaded not guilty. The case is still ongoing.

The 25-year-old's murder shocked Kenya and led current and former athletes to form “Tirop's Angels” in 2022 to combat domestic violence.

Joan Chelimo, one of the founders of the nonprofit organization, told Reuters that female athletes are at high risk of exploitation and violence from men who are interested in their money.

“They fall into the traps of sex offenders who pose as lovers in their lives,” she said.