On 5 September, Rebecca Cheptegei, a 33 year old Ugandan athlete who trained in Kenya, was set on fire after being doused in petrol by her ex-boyfriend, suffering burns to 80 per cent of her body. Rebecca lingered on in what must have been unimaginable pain for three days before her injuries took her life at a hospital in Eldoret.

In 2021, 25-year-old record-breaking runner Agnes Tirop was stabbed to death, allegedly by her husband. That same year, another aspiring athlete, 27-year-old Edith Muthoni was murdered,  allegedly by her husband. Barely six months later, 28-year-old Kenyan-Bahraini athlete Damaris Mutua was strangled by her alleged lover.

These heinous acts of femicide made world headlines because the young women involved were professional athletes. Most others don’t even make the local paper.