Ugandan marathon runner Rebecca Cheptegei at the Rosa Associati Camp in Kapchorwa, Uganda on January 19, 2023.
Friends are now painting a picture of a troubled and unsettled soul of Ugandan women marathon record holder Rebecca Cheptegei who is admitted at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret after suffering severe burns from an alleged domestic attack.
Cheptegei, 33, was allegedly doused with petrol and set aflame by her estranged partner Dickson Ndiema Marangach at her house in Trans Nzoia on Sunday.
Marangach also sustained burns in the incident and was admitted in the same hospital.
While training for the Paris Olympic Games in August where she finished 44th in the women’s marathon race, Cheptegei was not at peace due to her troubled relation with Marangach that had forced her to walk away, her fellow athletes have revealed.
Ugandan marathon runner Stella Chesang who trained with Cheptegei at their Paris Olympic Games team camp in Kapchorwa, Eastern Uganda, told Nation Sport that her mate would always ask for permission from the head coach to attend to domestic matters.
“I realized every weekend Cheptegei would leave camp to rush home. Out of curiosity I asked her the reason and she told me that her two kids were staying alone because she had broken up with her boyfriend and she wanted to make sure they were doing well,” said Chesang.
Ugandan team marathon member Sarah Chelangat, who shared a room with Cheptegei at their Kapchorwa camp said that her colleague would on occasions look disturbed.
“At one point I asked her what the issue was and she confessed to me that her former boyfriend was bothering her. I advised her to focus on the Paris Olympics and thereafter try to deal with the problem,” said Chelangat.
She also said that Cheptegei was struggling with a niggling injury in the build up to the Olympics and that is why she finished way down the list in Paris.
Ugandan marathoner Solomon Mutai, a close friend of Cheptegei, said she was forced to change her training base two times to avoid the relationship.
“This was her former boyfriend and he always misused her money. She stopped funding him and that is where her troubles started. When they broke up, Cheptegei came to Uganda and started training with us in Kapkoros, Bukwo District
“We talked with her and she told me that the man wanted to take away her land and house in Kinyoro in Trans Nzoia County and that a criminal case was being handled by the Kenyan Police. They were asked to present their bank statements to show who had really bought that land. They were to present the proof on Monday but then she was attacked on Sunday,” said Mutai on phone in Uganda.
Cheptegei is fighting for her life at ETRH Intensive Care Unit after sustaining 80 per cent burns.
The Ugandan athlete was referred to the hospital for specialized treatment from Kitale County Referral Hospital in Trans Nzoia County where she had been admitted on Sunday.
Doctors at the MTRH described the condition of Cheptegei as critical but stable.
The government on Wednesday announced that the athlete will be transferred to Nairobi for more specialized treatment.
Sports Principal Secretary Peter Tum, said they have been in discussion with the Uganda Sports Minister, Peter Ogwang on how to provide the best possible medical care for Cheptegei.
She set her Ugandan record of 2:22:47 in Abu Dhabi in 2022 and is one of Uganda’s top long distance runners.
