When news of Rebecca Cheptegei’s death was announced earlier this month it shook the athletics world but left few surprised. The details are horrific but bear repeating: Cheptegei was allegedly [doused in petrol and set alight by her former partner](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/athletics/2024/09/05/rebecca-cheptegei-olympics-marathon-runner-dies-set-on-fire/), Dickson Ndiema Marangach, outside her home in the village of Kinyoro, in north-west Kenya. She sustained horrific burns to 80 per cent of her body and died in hospital a few days later.
Aliphine Tuliamuk, a Kenyan-born distance runner, believes these cases are all directly related to the fact they were athletes. “Her story is not unique,” Tuliamuk, 35, tells *Telegraph Sport* of Cheptegei. “It’s something that we’ve had over and over again.
“I grew up without a lot, and a lot of these athletes grew up with nothing. They’ve worked so hard to make a name for themselves and make a living so that they can have a better life. And then the same success that they were looking for is the thing that kills them.”
Tuliamuk grew up just over an hour’s drive from where Cheptegei, 33, was killed. Though she never raced Cheptegei, she knew of her as a fellow athlete and mother in distance running, and had seen her represent Uganda at the Paris Games only the previous month.
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***Telegraph Sport’s Molly McElwee writes:***
When news of Rebecca Cheptegei’s death was announced earlier this month it shook the athletics world but left few surprised. The details are horrific but bear repeating: Cheptegei was allegedly [doused in petrol and set alight by her former partner](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/athletics/2024/09/05/rebecca-cheptegei-olympics-marathon-runner-dies-set-on-fire/), Dickson Ndiema Marangach, outside her home in the village of Kinyoro, in north-west Kenya. She sustained horrific burns to 80 per cent of her body and died in hospital a few days later.
The reason few were surprised is that the Olympic marathon runner is the third elite female athlete to be killed in Kenya in just three years. World medallist [Agnes Tirop was found stabbed to death](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/athletics/2021/10/13/kenyan-olympian-world-record-holder-found-dead-home/) in her Iten home in October 2021, just five weeks after she set a world record in the 10,000m road race. A few months later, Kenyan-born Bahraini athlete [Damaris Muthee Mutua was strangled to death in the same town](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/athletics/2022/04/20/kenyan-athlete-damaris-muthee-mutua-found-dead-town-olympian/). All the killings have a common link: the main suspects in each case is their former romantic partner.
Aliphine Tuliamuk, a Kenyan-born distance runner, believes these cases are all directly related to the fact they were athletes. “Her story is not unique,” Tuliamuk, 35, tells *Telegraph Sport* of Cheptegei. “It’s something that we’ve had over and over again.
“I grew up without a lot, and a lot of these athletes grew up with nothing. They’ve worked so hard to make a name for themselves and make a living so that they can have a better life. And then the same success that they were looking for is the thing that kills them.”
Tuliamuk grew up just over an hour’s drive from where Cheptegei, 33, was killed. Though she never raced Cheptegei, she knew of her as a fellow athlete and mother in distance running, and had seen her represent Uganda at the Paris Games only the previous month.
**Read more:** [**https://www.telegraph.co.uk/athletics/2024/09/26/olympian-burnt-to-death-three-female-athletes-killed-kenya/**](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/athletics/2024/09/26/olympian-burnt-to-death-three-female-athletes-killed-kenya/)