France To Name Sports Facility After Ugandan Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei Who Died After Being Set On Fire By Her Boyfriend
France To Name Sports Facility After Ugandan Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei Who Died After Being Set On Fire By Her Boyfriend
Ugandan Olympian, Rebecca Cheptegei, who died a few days ago from injuries she suffered after being set on fire by her boyfriend in Kenya, will have a sports venue named after her in Paris, France.
Paris Mayor, Anne Hidalgo announced on Friday that the French capital will pay a tribute to Cheptegei by naming a sports facility in her honour.
It would be recalled that the 33-year-old Olympic runner, who competed in the Paris Olympic Games in August 2024, died on Thursday, September 5, at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Kenya after she was doused in petrol and set on fire by her boyfriend, Dickson Ndiema, in her house in Western Trans Nzoia County, Kenya.
Mayor Hidalgo told journalists “She dazzled us here in Paris. We saw her. Her beauty, her strength, her freedom, and it was in all likelihood her beauty, strength and freedom which were intolerable for the person who committed this murder.”
She added: “Paris will not forget her. We will dedicate a sports venue to her so that her memory and her story remains among us and helps carry the message of equality, which is a message carried by the Olympic and Paralympic Games.”
