Alexandra Ndolo (born 13 August 1986)[1] is a German-born left-handed épée fencer who switched allegiances to fence for Kenya in 2022.[2][3] She qualified to be Kenya's only fencer at the Paris Olympics in 2024.
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 13 August 1986 Bayreuth, Northern Bavaria, Germany | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country |  Kenya (from 2022 on) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Former country | Germany | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weapon | Épée | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hand | Left-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Life
editNdolo was born in Bayreuth, Northern Bavaria, Germany in 1986. Her mother was Polish and her father was from Kenya.[3]
She represented Germany at the 2013 Summer Universiade held in Kazan, Russia.[1] In 2014 she took an interest in Kenya when she started donating equipment.[4] She competed in the women's épée event at the World Fencing Championships in 2015, 2017 and 2019.
Ndolo won the silver medal in the women's épée event at the 2017 European Fencing Championships held in Tbilisi, Georgia.[5]
Ndolo won one of the bronze medals in her event at the 2019 European Fencing Championships held in Düsseldorf, Germany.[6] This was the same year that she was one of the founders of the Kenya Fencing Association, even though many Kenyans were unaware of the sport.[4] She also competed at the 2022 European Fencing Championships held in Antalya, Turkey.
During the COVID-19 pandemic she realised that although fencing was helping some children in Kenya, it would be sometime before the Kenya Fencing Association created a champion. Until then she would need to be that champion. She decided to change her sporting allegiance in 2022. She had won the silver medal in the women's épée event at the 2022 World Fencing Championships held in Cairo, Egypt[7] for Germany. She still lives and trains in Cologne but she travels internationally to represent Kenya. She has twice won the African fencing championships and she is scheduled to be Kenya's only fencer at the Olympic Games.[4]
References
edit- ^ a b "Fencing Results Book" (PDF). 2013 Summer Universiade. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 August 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
- ^ "Alexandra Ndolo, the German with Kenyan Roots Making Waves in Fencing". teamkenya.co.ke. 29 November 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
- ^ a b Watta, Evelyn (29 September 2022). "Alexandra Ndolo on making fencing history for Kenya at Paris 2024". Olympics.com. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
- ^ a b c Johnson, Sarah; Burgen, Stephen; Delacloche, Laure (2 July 2024). "In a class of their own: three Olympic sportswomen talk about overcoming war, hardship and the Taliban". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
- ^ Etchells, Daniel (15 June 2017). "Russia's Kolobova strikes gold at European Fencing Championships". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
- ^ Rowbottom, Mike (19 June 2019). "Russia's Reshetnikov plays it again 10 years on to regain European fencing title in men's sabre". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
- ^ Lloyd, Owen (18 July 2022). "Szilágyi and Song take historic wins at Fencing World Championships". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
External links
edit- Alexandra Ndolo at the International Fencing Federation
- Alexandra Ndolo at the European Fencing Confederation
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