Thousands mourn Ugandan Olympian killed by ex-partner

He attacked the mother-of-two after she returned from a service at a church, the God’s Dwelling Ministry.

The pastor there, Caroline Atieno, remembers a “wonderful… God-fearing person”.

After learning about the incident, she managed to speak with Cheptegei on the phone while she was in the hospital.

The athlete initially inquired about her children, who were reported to be well, as mentioned by the pastor on the BBC’s Africa Daily podcast.

Cheptegei then expressed her distress about her attacker, saying, “You mean Dickson cannot remember anything I have done for him? Why is he setting me on fire? Why has he done this to me?”

On Friday, family members, friends, and activists against gender-based violence gathered at a funeral home in Eldoret, Kenya, to view her coffin before it was transported.

Her mother, Agnes Cheptegei, visibly distressed and covering her face, wore a souvenir bag from the recent Paris Olympics, where the athlete finished 44th in the marathon. She also wore a T-shirt with the slogan, “Being a woman should not be a death sentence.”

The mother-of-two was the third female athlete to be killed in Kenya in the past three years. In each case, current or former romantic partners have been identified as the main suspects by police. Agnes Tirop, a world-record holder, was stabbed to death in 2021, and six months later, Damaris Mutua was strangled.

The rise in attacks on women in Kenya is a growing concern. A national survey in 2022 reported that at least 34% of women had experienced physical violence. Some observers suggest that female athletes are becoming increasingly vulnerable.

“[This is] because they go against traditional gender norms where the woman is just in the kitchen and just cooking and taking care of kids. But now female athletes are becoming more independent, financially independent,” said Joan Chelimo, who co-founded Tirop’s Angels to help highlight the issue of violence against women.