Podcasts

'We've the best athletes in the world and they're most endangered at home' | Viola Cheptoo Lagat

Eoin Sheahan was joined by Kenyan Olympian Viola Cheptoo Lagat on Tuesday's Off The Ball. Earlier this month, the Ugandan athlete Rebecca Cheptegei, a long-distance runner who had recently competed at the Olympic Games in Paris, was killed by her former boyfriend. In an act of incredible brutality, Dickson Ndiema, who has himself subsequently died, ambushed Cheptegei at her Kenyan home before pouring petrol on her and setting her alight. Far from an isolated incident, the murder of Rebecca Cheptegei is one of many such attacks against female athletes that has occurred in Kenya and certain surrounding countries. In 2021, following the murder of Kenyan Olympian and world-record holder Agnes Tirop, Viola Cheptoo Lagat was instrumental in the foundation of Tirop's Angels, an organisation dedicated to stand in unity against gender-based violence. Viola joined us on the show this evening to discuss Rebecca's brutal death, the challenges facing female athletes in Kenya, and why she believes the sporting governing bodies need to do more to help these women who are so vulnerable to manipulation, coercion and murder. see more