Paris will honour Olympic marathon athlete Rebecca Cheptegei of Uganda, who unfortunately passed away in Kenya following a vicious attack.
According to the Times of India, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo announced intentions to rename a sports facility in Cheptegei’s honour, perpetuating her memory and signifying the equality message espoused by the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The world was shocked to learn that Cheptegei, an Olympic women’s marathon competitor, had died after her partner set her on fire.
Police said a man identified as Dickson Ndiema Marangach had doused Cheptegei with petrol and set her alight at her home in Endebess in the western county of Trans-Nzoia.
Ugandan athletics officials confirmed Cheptegei’s death four days after being set on fire.
“Paris will not forget her. We’ll dedicate a sports venue to her so that her memory and her story remain among us and help carry the message of equality, which is a message carried by the Olympic and Paralympic Games,” Hidalgo added.
“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 that were intolerable for the person who committed this murder,” Hidalgo told reporters.
Cheptegei, 33, made her Olympic debut in the women’s marathon at the Paris Games, where she finished 44th.
Police and doctors say she was left with 80 per cent burns after being attacked in front of her children on Sunday by her Kenyan partner, Dickson Ndiema Marangach.
