World Athletics is shocked and deeply saddened to learn that Ugandan distance runner Rebecca Cheptegei died tragically on Thursday (5 September) as a result of an alleged domestic abuse attack.
Over the past 15 years, the 33-year-old had represented her nation at major championships on the track, roads, cross country and mountains. Her most notable achievement was her victory in the up and downhill race at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in 2022.
A talented teenager, Cheptegei represented Uganda at the 2010 World Cross Country Championships in Bydgoszcz, where she placed 15th individually and earned bronze in the team competition.
She competed in the senior race at the following year's edition in Punta Umbria, and went on to represent Uganda on the track at the World Military Games later that year.
She made her third World Cross Country Championships appearance in 2013 and competed at the African Cross Country Championships in 2014.
After making her marathon debut in 2021, she set a Ugandan record of 2:22:47 in 2022 in what was just her fourth race at the distance. That came just six weeks after her victory at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Chiang Mai.
Last year she finished 14th in the marathon at the World Championships in Budapest. She finished just outside of the medals in the half marathon at the African Games earlier this year, then went on to make her Olympic debut in Paris, placing 44th in the marathon in 2:32:14.
"Our sport has lost a talented athlete in the most tragic and unthinkable circumstances," said World Athletics President Sebastian Coe. "Rebecca was an incredibly versatile runner who still had lots left to give on the roads, mountains and cross country trails.
"I have been in touch with our Council Members in Africa to see how we can help not only in our capacity as governing body of the sport Rebecca competed in, but to assess how our safeguarding policies might be enhanced to include abuse outside of the sport, and bringing together stakeholders from all areas of athletics to combine forces to protect our female athletes to the best of our abilities from abuse of all kinds."
