SportsNews
Ugandan athlete who competed in the Olympics, Rebecca Cheptegei, passes away after being set ablaze by her ex-boyfriend.
Rebecca Cheptegei represented Uganda in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics 2024 [File: Kirby Lee/USA Today Sports]
Uganda’s Olympian Cheptegei dies after being set on fire by boyfriend
Marathon runner Cheptegei died aged 33 due to multiple organ failure after suffering 80 percent burns when her boyfriend poured petrol on her and set her on fire in Kenya.
Uganda’s Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei has died four days after being set on fire by her boyfriend, the country’s Olympic chief said.
“We have learnt of the sad passing on of our Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei … following a vicious attack by her boyfriend,” Uganda Olympic Committee (UOC) President Donald Rukare said in a post on X on Thursday.
The 33-year-old succumbed to the burns she suffered when her boyfriend poured petrol on her and set her ablaze in Kenya, making her the third female athlete to be killed in the country since October 2021.
“[Cheptegei] passed today morning after her organs failed,” Owen Menach, senior director of clinical services at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH), told the Reuters news agency, adding that a full report regarding the circumstances of her death would be released on Thursday afternoon.
Peter Ogwang, Uganda’s minister of state for education and sports, described her death as “tragic”.
“Kenyan authorities are investigating the circumstances under which she died and a more detailed report and program will be provided in due course,” he said.
UOC chief Rukare termed the incident a “cowardly and senseless act” and said it had deprived the country of a “great athlete”.
“Her legacy will continue to endure,” he added.
We have learnt of the sad passing on of our Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei OLY following a vicious attack by her boyfriend. May her gentle soul rest in peace and we strongly condemn violence against women. This was a cowardly and senseless act that has led to the loss of a… pic.twitter.com/V8Mog3oMOX
— Donald Rukare (@drukare) September 5, 2024
Cheptegei had sustained burns to three-quarters of her body, the acting head of MTRH in the Rift Valley city of Eldoret, where she was being treated, told reporters on Tuesday.
Identifying the accused as her partner, Dickson Ndiema Marangach, police said he doused Cheptegei with petrol and set her alight on Sunday at her home in Endebess in the western county of Trans-Nzoia.
The incident took place just weeks after Cheptegei participated in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics, where she finished 44th.
The Uganda Olympic Committee called for swift action in a statement confirming Cheptegei’s death.
We condole with the family of the late Rebecca Cheptegei OLY who passed on this morning. May her gentle soul rest in peace. pic.twitter.com/2qgGKYZhbp
— NOC UGANDA | CGA UGANDA (@Official_UOC) September 5, 2024
“We urge the relevant law enforcement agencies to take swift and decisive action to bring the perpetrator to justice for this cowardly and deplorable action.”
Cheptegei began her career in 2010 and represented Uganda in various long-distance races, making her first Olympic appearance at the games in Paris.
Her parents travelled to Trans-Nzoia and told local media that their daughter had bought land in the Kenyan county and built a house where she stayed for her training.
She met Ndiema in Trans-Nzoia and the attack stemmed from a dispute over the house she owned, according to a report in The Standard newspaper.
The Uganda Athletics Federation decried the incident and termed Cheptegei a “victim to domestic violence”.
“We condemn such acts and call for justice,” the sports body said in a post.
BREAKING NEWS💔💔
We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of our athlete, Rebecca Cheptegei early this morning who tragically fell victim to domestic violence. As a federation, we condemn such acts and call for justice. May her soul rest In Peace. pic.twitter.com/ZdxmZ3wDuE— UGANDA ATHLETICS FEDERATION🇺🇬🇺🇬 UAF (@UgaAthletics2) September 5, 2024
Kenyan media reported that one of Cheptegei’s daughters witnessed the assault at her mother’s home.
“He kicked me while I tried to run to the rescue of my mother,” Kenya’s The Standard quoted her as saying.
“I immediately cried out for help, attracting a neighbour who tried to extinguish the flames with water, but it was not possible,” said the girl, who was not named.
Marangach was also wounded in the incident, sustaining 30 percent burns on his body.
Cheptegei’s death shines a spotlight on violence experienced by sportswomen in Kenya. The assault comes two years after Kenyan-born athlete Damaris Mutua was found dead in Iten, a world-famous running hub in the Rift Valley.
And in 2021, record-breaking Kenyan runner Agnes Tirop, 25, was found stabbed to death at her home in Iten in 2021. Her estranged husband is on trial over her murder. He has denied the charges.
SportsNews
Three brand new branded buses for Heartland Football Club of Owerri have arrived at the State House, Government House Owerri, and are set to be handed over to the teams. Both the men’s and women’s teams will benefit from this.
Three brand new branded buses for Heartland Football Club of Owerri have arrived at the State House, Government House Owerri, and are set to be handed over to the teams.
Both the men’s and women’s teams will benefit from this.
AN.
December 20, 2024.
While Formula 1 continues to make good gains in improving its sustainability, one of the most obvious areas of wastage clearly still needs addressing.
With the quest to reduce environmental impact being all about marginal gains rather than delivering a silver bullet solution, it is quite remarkable that F1 finds itself left with so many unused tyres over the course of a season.
The reality of this situation emerged in an info document that Pirelli sent out on Thursday detailing some interesting stats from the 2024 season – which included the fact that F1’s tyres cumulatively covered a distance of 334,942.175 kilometres over 65,534 laps.
Tucked away amid the data were some interesting numbers related to the number of sets delivered – and especially how many ended up not being called into action at all.
Pirelli says it supplied teams will a total of 8016 new sets in 2024 – which was divided up into 6100 sets of slicks and 1916 of wet weather rubber (1428 inters and 488 wets). Of this total, 2718 sets were never used – which is around 34% of the entire supply.
Some of these were rain tyres that were never required, but there were a fair few slicks that also never saw the light of day.
Photo by: Erik Junius
Pirelli says that 935 sets of slicks – just more than 15% of the total taken to races – were fitted to rims and never left the garage.
Furthermore, 948 sets of slicks (15.5%) completed between just one and three laps – being used either just for qualifying or in quali sims in practice.
The number of totally unused tyres is quite eye-opening when put in the context of all these tyres effectively being wasted resources on two fronts.
First, there is the question of effort and materials, in terms of manufacturing and then needing to destroy and recycle these sets.
Then beyond that there are transportation considerations to take into account too based on flying this rubber all the way around the world for nothing.
It is little wonder that Pirelli itself noted in its document: “The issue of more efficient tyre usage during the race weekend remains on the table.”
Finding a solution
The issue of wasted tyres is something that Pirelli has been pushing hard on in recent years, and improvements have already been made for 2024.
This came through the use of a ‘strip and fit’ policy for extremes and inters – meaning that tyres that were mounted at one race could be stripped and refitted for the following. This meant that around 3500 fewer tyres needed to be produced last year compared to 2023.
A trolley of Pirelli tyres
© Autosport.com
A trolley of Pirelli tyres
Photo by: Lionel Ng / Motorsport Images
Reality means that it will be impossible for F1 to ever end up in a situation where there are no wasted tyres, but it is clear more can be done.
On the rain tyre element, consideration could be given to shifting F1 to just having a single type of wet tyre.
It is pretty obvious in F1 right now that the current performance dynamics of the inter and the extreme trigger a scenario where there is a lot of wastage.
The extreme is designed to resolve problems of aquaplaning in really bad conditions – but the tyre is so rarely used because, by throwing up so much water along with the diffuser, cars never run in such terrible weather.
Pirelli’s 2024 data highlights the problem. Intermediates were used for a total of 5.84% of the entire distance covered by teams; the extreme was just 0.57%.
Having a single wet tyre to cope with the range of conditions that run from damp to the point where cars no longer race would be an easy win for cutting back on tyre production. On the slick issue, it is inevitable that there will be some sets that are only used for three laps or so because of qualifying.
Sets of Medium and Hard Pirelli tyres used by McLaren
© Autosport.com
Sets of Medium and Hard Pirelli tyres used by McLaren
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
However, reducing the number of tyres unused totally could be achieved through different sporting regulations, perhaps forcing teams to use specific compounds in certain sessions.
F1 trialled the Alternative Tyre Allocation (ATA) at two races in 2023 – reducing the number of sets given to each driver down from 13 to 11. The rules forced drivers to use hard tyres in Q1, mediums in Q2 and softs in Q3.
But the idea did not get the support needed from teams to become the norm from the start of this year. There were concerns that the ATA limited running in practice too much and it handed an advantage to the quickest teams who were better on the harder compounds in qualifying.
The ATA was ruled out for adoption and the idea of a reduced allocation has since fallen away from the spotlight.
Pirelli felt that this was a missed opportunity. As head of F1 and car racing Mario Isola said at the time: “The decision to drop this format, for me, was not the right one.
“I believe that if the direction for the future is to reduce the championship’s carbon footprint, we have to accept to lose something.”
And as Pirelli’s latest numbers show, this is a topic that definitely needs some fresh attention.
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