The city of Paris intends to pay tribute to the late Ugandan Olympic runner Rebecca Cheptegei by naming a sports facility in her honour.
This initiative was revealed by Mayor Anne Hidalgo on Friday and is set to be reviewed by city officials in October.
Cheptegei passed away on Thursday in a Kenyan hospital, where she was receiving treatment for severe burns covering 80 per cent of her body due to an attack by her partner.
She was 33 years old. Just weeks prior, Cheptegei participated in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics, finishing in 44th place.
“Paris will not forget her and we will dedicate a sports venue to her so that her memory and her story will remain among us, and help us carry even stronger the message of equality, which is a message carried by the Olympic and Paralympic Games,” Hidalgo said.
City hall said in a statement, “Paris joins its elected representatives in expressing its support for the family of the athlete, victim of a femicide a few weeks after her participation in the Olympic Games.”
This week, Trans Nzoia County Police Commander Jeremiah ole Kosiom reported that during a dispute last Sunday, Dickson Ndiema, the partner of Cheptegei, purchased a can of gasoline, doused her with it, and ignited her.
Ndiema also sustained burns and is receiving treatment at the same medical facility.
According to statistics from UN Women, an organization advocating for gender equality, and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, a woman or girl is murdered by an intimate partner or family member every 11 minutes on average worldwide.
“An emotional thought for Rebecca Cheptegei,” Hidalgo said.
“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,”
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