Kenya's Alexandra Ndolo wins Women's Épée at the Senior Fencing African Championships

© Team Kenya

FENCING Kenya's Alexandra Ndolo wins Women's Épée at the Senior Fencing African Championships

Mark Kinyanjui 22:00 - 20.06.2023

The German-born Kenyan edged closer to being the first Kenyan fencer to qualify for the Olympics.

Alexandra Ndolo has edged closer to being the first-ever Kenyan fencer to qualify for the Olympics as she won gold at the ongoing Senior African Championships at Hassan Mostafa Arena in Cairo, Egypt.

Ndolo fended off competition from Algerian Ines El Batoul Taleb 15-5 to emerge victorious as Kenya won its maiden medal at any fencing competition.

The 36-year-old, who was seeded third, was given a bye to the Round of 16 where she bundled out Tufaha Uwihoreye 15-7 to set her up with Algerian Charlene Boukhelifa in the quarter finals.

Ndolo edged out the Algerian 15-0 to set up a date with Aya Hussein of Egypt, who she easily beat 15-7

Ndolo, who was born to a Polish mother and a Kenyan father, declared her allegiance to Kenya after ditching her German citizenship in 2022.

She represented Germany at the 2013 Summer Universiade held in Kazan, Russia. She competed in the women's épée event at the World Fencing Championships in 2015, 2017 and 2019.

Ndolo won silver in the women's épée event at the 2017 European Fencing Championships held in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Ndolo also claimed one of the bronze medals at the 2019 European Fencing Championships held in Düsseldorf, Germany.

She also competed at the 2022 European Fencing Championships held in Antalya, Turkey where she won silver in the women's épée event at the 2022 World Fencing Championships held in Cairo, Egypt.

In so doing, she made history as the first Kenyan woman to ever compete in a major World Fencing event finishing 10th out of 271 participants

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