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German-born Kenyan fencer Alexandra Ndolo has expressed her pride at making history for the country after sealing her qualification to the Paris 2024 Olympics.
German-born Kenyan fencer Alexandra Ndolo has made history by qualifying for the Olympics after finishing 11th at her final qualification tournament in Nanjing, China.
Ndolo needed to be the highest-ranked African by the end of April to seal an Olympics ticket for Kenya and after her latest performance, she is now 15th on the International Fencing Federation world ranking with the next African being Algeria's Ines El Batoul Taleb, who is ranked 41st globally.
Most importantly, Ndolo has 84 points while Taleb has 39, a big lead that the North African cannot overtake.
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15:03 - 10.11.2023
FENCING German-born Kenyan fencer Alexandra Ndolo slams Kenyan federation for missing out on World Cup
Alexandra Ndolo has lashed out her frustrations once again concerning the Kenyan federation that has contributed to her missing the World Cup.
In Nanjing, Ndolo finished 11th out of 191 competitors at the FIE Women’s Epee World Cup after making it to the Round of 16 before she lost 15-9 to Alicja Klasic of Poland.
She started by beating Italian Marzani Roberta 8-7 in the Round of 64 before flooring Julia Beljajeva of Estonia 15-11 in the Round of 32 but met her waterloo against Klasic.
However, that was still enough to earn her an Olympics ticket which looked assured since last year.
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19:57 - 23.03.2024
TICKETING Seeking to attend Paris Olympics? Watching Faith Kipyegon, Ferdinand Omanyala and co will be an expensive affair
Fans intending to travel to France to catch Olympics action in the stadiums will have to spend big with athletics, where Kenyan is pinning its hope on, having the most expensive tickets.
“Happy to finish this Olympics qualification cycle on a positive note. There is still lots of work to be done until July but for now, I’m content at having accomplished this qualification. Four months, let’s make it count. Paris, here I come,” Ndolo posted on her Instagram story after sealing her Olympics ticket.
The 37-year-old also expressed pride at being the first Kenyan fencer in history to qualify for the Olympics in the rare sport.
“Oh yeah and I might just have written history by qualifying to the Games as the first Kenyan fencing athlete ever. For this, I am extremely proud and I can’t wait to fly the Kenyan flag high at the Olympics,” she added.
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08:34 - 24.03.2024
ATHLETICS Kenya unfazed about losing Olympics gold over Kelvin Kiptum’s death & Eliud Kipchoge’s poor form
Athletics Kenya remains confident of retaining the men’s Olympics marathon title following the death of Kelvin Kiptum and the indifferent form of Eliud Kipchoge.
Ndolo, who has a Kenyan father and Polish mother, switched allegiance to her father’s country in July 2022 after representing her nation of birth Germany for 15 years.
She received official confirmation and approval from the International Olympic Committee to represent Kenya at the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympic Games last June, the news coming just a day after emerging as the African champion.
Her Olympics qualification journey has, however, not been smooth sailing as she accused the Kenyan government and local fencing federation for giving her empty promises, forcing her to take debts to finance her preparations, while she was unable to travel with her coach and physio to various events.
The Sports Ministry and National Olympics Committee of Kenya stepped in to boost the Cologne-based athlete, enabling her to feature in some of the key events.
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