The city of Paris will honour Ugandan Olympic runner, Rebecca Cheptegei, by naming a sports venue after her.
The announcement was made by Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo on Friday.
Cheptegei, who ran in the women’s marathon during the Paris Olympics last month, passed away on Thursday from severe burns. She was set on fire by her boyfriend at her home in Kenya.
“She dazzled us here in Paris. We saw her. Her beauty, her strength, her freedom, and it was in all liklihood her beauty, strength and freedom which were intolerable for the person who committed this murder.
“Paris will not forget her. We’ll dedicate a sports venue to her so that her memory and her story remains among us and helps carry the message of equality, which is a message carried by the Olympic and Paralympic Games,” Mayor Hidalgo told reporters.
Cheptegei, aged 33, competed in her first Olympics at the Paris Games and finished 44th in the marathon.
Reports say she suffered burns on 80 percent of her body after being attacked in front of her children by her partner, Dickson Ndiema Marangach, in Kenya on Sunday.
