Paris will name a sports facility in honor of Rebecca Cheptegei, the Ugandan Olympic marathoner who died after she was set on fire by her boyfriend this week.
Mayor Anne Hidalgo on Friday announced the plans to pay tribute to Cheptegei.
“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,” Hidalgo told reporters. “Paris will not forget her. We’ll 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.”
Cheptegei, who finished 44th in the marathon at the Paris Games, died on Thursday, four days after she was doused in petrol and ignited by her boyfriend in Kenya in the latest attack on a female athlete in the country. The 33-year-old suffered burns to 80% of her body in Sunday’s attack.
She is the third prominent female athlete to be killed in Kenya since October 2021. Kenyan Sports Minister Kipchumba Murkomen described Cheptegei’s death as a loss “to the entire region” and said the government would ensure justice.
“This is a critical moment — not just to mourn the loss of a remarkable Olympian, but to commit ourselves to creating a society that respects and protects the dignity of every individual,” Uganda’s athletes commission chair Ganzi Semu Mugula said Friday.
Reuters contributed to this report.
