The athletics world is mourning the loss of Ugandan Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei, who died in a Kenyan hospital after her partner doused her with petrol.

The 33-year-old long-distance runner, who competed in the women’s marathon at this year’s Paris Olympics, suffered burns to 80 percent of her body and succumbed to multiple organ failure following Sunday’s attack.

Trans Nzoia County police said Cheptegei’s partner, Dickson Ndiema, bought a can of petrol during an argument on Sunday, poured it on her and then set her on fire.

Ndiema also suffered burns and was treated at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret, where Cheptegei was also admitted. The hospital said he was still in intensive care with burns on 30 percent of his body.

The attack is said to have been triggered by a dispute over a piece of land that Cheptegei had bought in Trans Nzoia County. She had chosen the area with its renowned sports training centers.

Her parents said their daughter had hoped to settle there to pursue her dream of becoming a top athlete.

A family friend said: “She was so full of life, so determined. She believed this place would help her reach the heights she dreamed of. And now… she’s gone.”

The Uganda Athletics Federation posted on X: “We are deeply saddened to announce the death this morning of our athlete Rebecca Cheptegei, who was tragically the victim of domestic violence.”

Uganda Olympic Committee President Donald Rukare called the attack “a cowardly and senseless act that resulted in the loss of a great athlete.”

Cheptegei was born and raised in Cheminy, Uganda and trained for several years in Trans Nzoia West in Kenya.

Her parents said she bought land in the area to be close to the county’s many sports training centers.

A report from the local chief states that before the attack the two were heard fighting over the land on which their house was built.

Cheptegei won the 2022 Padua Marathon and finished fourth in the Abu Dhabi Marathon the same year.

She also represented Uganda at the 2011 and 2013 World Cross Country Championships in Punta Umbria and Bydgoszcz.

Cheptegei is not the first athlete to suffer such a tragic fate.

In 2023, Ugandan Olympic runner and steeplechase runner Benjamin Kiplagat was found dead with stab wounds. And in 2022, Kenyan-born Bahraini athlete Damaris Muthee was found dead. An autopsy report said she had been strangled.

In 2021, long-distance runner Agnes Tirop was stabbed to death in her home. Her husband, Ibrahim Rotich, was arrested and charged with murder; the case is still ongoing.

The investigation into Cheptegei’s death is ongoing.

This article contains reports from The Associated Press