Ms Cheptegei’s mother Agnes said her daughter “was always obedient as a child, and very kind and jovial all through her life”.

Emmanual Kimutai, a friend and neighbour who attended school with Ms Cheptegei, described her as a “very exciting” and “determined” person.

“Even in primary school she was already doing very well in athletics, she was our champion,” Mr Kimutai said.

The Olympian was born on the Kenyan side of the Kenya-Uganda border, but chose to cross over and represent Uganda to chase her athletics dream when she did not get a breakthrough in Kenya.

When she started getting into athletics, she joined the Uganda People’s Defence Forces in 2008 and rose to sergeant rank.

Her career included competing in the Olympics in Paris this year. Although she came 44th in the marathon, people in her home area called her “champion”.

She lived in Chepkum, a village in Kenya about 25km (15 miles) from the border with Uganda, in a rural area whose main economic activity is farming.

Residents also tend to cattle and it is common to see cows, goats, and sheep grazing outside homes.

The wider area, called Trans-Nzoia county, is known as Kenya’s biggest producer of maize, which is the main ingredient for the country’s staple food.

Locals at a shopping centre near her house spoke fondly about a woman they sometimes waved at as she trained along the road whenever she was not in competition or training in Uganda.

Kind and humble were the words often mentioned by people there.