Family of Olympic runner hospitalized after being 'set on fire by boyfriend' speak out

An Olympian who took part in this summer's games is fighting for her life after being doused in petrol and set alight.

Ugandan long-distance runner Rebecca Cheptegei finished in 44th position as she raced alongside the world's greatest female athletes in the marathon event at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei was allegedly attacked by her boyfriend (Uganda Athletics Federation/Twitter)

Following her performance she returned to her home in Trans Nzoia County, Kenya.

It was here that she is believed to have gotten into a disagreement with her ex-partner Dickson Ndiema over her land in the small town of Endebes, which is just a half-hour drive from the Kenyan-Ugandan border.

Jeremiah Ole Kosiom, police commander for the county, stated that Ndiema had bought a jerry can following their disagreement on Sunday before dousing her and the property in petrol and setting fire to her.

The 33-year-old is receiving treatment at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital for burns to 80 percent of her body, officials confirmed.

Now, the runner's dad Joseph Cheptegei has spoken out from her bedside claiming that the pair were no longer together but that they had been arguing over land.

Uganda's Rebecca Cheptegei pictured in yellow and black at the the women's marathon final during the World Athletics Championship last year (FERENC ISZA/AFP via Getty Images)

Speaking to the Kenyan publication The Star, he said: "They were just friends and I wonder why he wanted to take away things belonging to my daughter."

Meanwhile Dr Owen Menach, CEO of the hospital where Cheptegei is being treated, also told the newspaper that his staff is working hard to stabilize the Olympian - who has suffered burns both externally and internally.

He explained that the athlete has 'inhalation burns' and that she is critical.

He said: "She is a high-profile patient and we are doing all we can to save her life."

Ndiema did not come away from the alleged attack unscathed, as he too is being treated.

Kosion said: "The man was also caught in the same fire and sustained serious burns."

Uganda's Rebecca Cheptegei applies an ice bag on her head at the Paris 2024 Olympics (KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images)

The police officer believes Ndiema entered Cheptegei's home while she was at church with her two children and poured petrol on the property and then waited for her return.

At which point it is alleged that he poured the can over her and sparked a flame.

Sadly Cheptegei's case isn't the first of an attack on a female athlete.

In 2022, Kenyan-born Bahraini athlete Damaris Muthee was found dead and a post-mortem examination said she had been strangled, while in 2021 two-time World Athletics Championships bronze medallist Agnes Tirop was discovered stabbed to death.