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‘The police neglected sign of violence,’ father of murdered Ugandan Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei opens up

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The bereaved father of Ugandan Olympian, Rebecca Cheptegei, who died after her estranged boyfriend set her on fire, has blamed police in the Trans Nzoia County of Kenya for ignoring earlier signs of domestic violence against his daughter and not arresting the situation early enough before his daughter was killed.

Joseph Cheptegei who spoke on the death of his daughter in a cruel fashion, said the police failed to deal with issue early enough even after being aware of the situation.

Joseph said the horrific incident was a culmination of a dispute that had been there for many months with the athlete nearly killed by the ex-boyfriend before she escaped early this year.

“In February, they had a dispute and this guy wanted to hack my daughter and she had to run away. We reported the matter to the police,” the father told NTV.

“It reached a point she realised this guy was just taking money from her and she didn’t see the benefit of the relationship. So, she decided to do her things privately because the guy wanted to be in charge of everything, which she declined.

“When the issue went to police, the guy wanted to take her property by force. He got married to someone else and even brought her here.

“If the government had responded well, she would not have died because the signs were there for long,” he said.

Cheptegei, who represented Uganda in marathon at the Paris 2024 Olympics, was born on the Kenyan side of the Kenya-Uganda border but decided to cross over to the neigbouring country to realise her athletics dream due to the stiff competition in Kenya.

She joined the Uganda’s People Defence Forces in 2008 and rose through the rank to sergeant as she represented Uganda in various competitions.

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Faith Kipyegon considering moving to different discipline after 1,500m dominance

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Kenya’s multiple world and Olympics champion, Faith Kipyegon, says she is considering as switch to other distances next year after dominating the 1,500m for many years with no serious challengers.

The Kenyan Golden Girl who already has three Olympics titles, a world record, and as many world titles, which makes her the greatest female athlete in history over the distance, added a fifth Diamond League title to her trophy cabinet last weekend, and says a switch to other races to test herself is not off the table in 2025.

“I hope to stay strong and healthy towards next year and see what I am capable of doing. I don’t know if I will still do 1,500m or move to 5,000m but I hope for the best next year,” Kipyegon told Athletics Weekly after grabbing the Diamond League title.

Kipyegon stated that she has been motivated by other athletes who have contested different disciplines, such as Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen who made his half marathon debut last weekend, and Dutchwoman Sifan Hassan, who has won titles in marathon, half marathon, 1,500m and 10,000m.

“I have seen Jakob is running in Copenhagen, I hope he gives me the motivation and I can also do half marathon.

“Also, Sifan Hassan doing half, marathon and coming to 1,500m, 5,000m, so I think it is only to twist how you think and say I am going to do this and hopefully we will do it,” she added.

Kipyegon has already proven that she has what it takes to compete in the 5,000m after winning a world title in Budapest last year, this coming after she had broken a world record, while she also claimed Olympics silver in Paris over the distance.

She had also previously expressed her interest in running a marathon in future and 2025 could be the year she starts the transition if she makes the decision.

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Kenya’s female athletes maintain Diamond League dominance

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Kenya’s female athletes have continued to prove their dominance at the Diamond League final in Brussels, Belgium, as they have scooped most of the titles to maintain their good record at major championships.

Out of the nine track events this far competed for in Brussels, Kenyan women athletes have picked four of them with some stunning performances recorded along the way.

Three of the four titles were won on the second day of the competition after world champion Mary Moraa had regained her 800m crown in superb fashion on Friday.

The Commonwealth champion ran a very tactical race to win the 800m Diamond Trophy in a season’s best 1:56.56, having saved the best for last, as she stormed to victory in the final 200m.

Moraa last won the trophy in 2022 before she was defeated by American Athing Mu last year but she made amends with her victory ahead of Britain’s Georgia Bell who clocked 1:57.50 and Jamaica’s Natoya Goule-Toppin, who completed the podium in 1:58.94.

On Saturday, 20-year-old Faith Cherotich stunned Olympics and world champion Winfred Yavi to claim the 3,000m steeplechase title.

With Yavi and former Olympics champion Peruth Chemutai of Uganda in the race, few gave Cherotich a chance at victory but she proved everyone wrong.

The world and Olympics bronze medallist timed her jumps at the water barriers to perfection while keeping Yavi in check, and at the final hurdle, she had already managed a good gap which she held on to win her first-ever Diamond League title.

Faith Kipyegon was the next to prove her mettle in the 1,500m and the three-time Olympics champion smashed the meeting record to clock 3:54.75 for her fifth Diamond League title.

Double Olympics champion Beatrice Chebet put the icing on the cake for the Kenyan women when she commanded the 5,000m race from start to finish.

Chebet left her rivals by a big gap as she lowered Almas Ayana’s meeting record by setting a new mark of 14:09.82 for her second Diamond League title.

Chebet had also won her first trophy in 2022 before missing out last year, but made amends in emphatic style. To show how dominant she was, second-placed Medina Eisa of Ethiopia came home in 14:21.89 to add to her world record in 10,000m, World Cross-Country title, two Olympics gold medals and now the Diamond League title in 2024.

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