Rebecca Cheptegei: ‘An inspiration to girls in her community'

The killing of Ugandan Olympian and long-distance runner Rebecca Cheptegei has devastated her friends and family - and left the East African athletics community reeling from shock.

The 33-year-old marathon runner who competed in the recent Paris Olympics, suffered extensive burns after after being doused in petrol and set alight by her former boyfriend at her home in Kenya. He too has died of burns he sustained.

There are concerns about the increasing cases of violence against female athletes in Kenya. Cheptegei is the third to have been killed since October 2021.

Tirop's Angels is an organisation founded by Kenyan athletes and the late Agnes Tirop's family that campaigns against gender-based violence.