German-born Kenyan fencer Alexandra Ndolo on 20th June won the African Senior Women’s Épée competition held in Egypt to be crowned the African champion in the category.
Ndolo who switched her allegiance from Germany to Kenya last year put up a fight against 23 other competitors to emerge top for a crucial victory as she looks to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The third-seeded 36-year-old, who had a bye to the Round of 16, promptly dispatched Tufaha Uwihoreye 15-7 to set up a quarterfinal matchup with Algerian Charlene Boukhelifa.
Ndolo defeated the Algerian 15-0 to earn a meeting with Egyptian Aya Hussein, whom she comfortably defeated 15-7.
Ndolo, a Kenyan-born woman with a Polish mother and a Kenyan father, renounced her German citizenship in 2022 and vowed devotion to Kenya.
She competed for Germany in the 2013 Summer Universiade in Kazan, Russia. In 2015, 2017, and 2019, she competed in the women’s épée event at the World Fencing Championships.
She also competed in the 2022 European Fencing Championships in Antalya, Turkey, winning silver in the women’s épée event. She also competed in the 2022 World Fencing Championships in Cairo, Egypt.
She created history by becoming the first Kenyan woman to compete in a major World Fencing tournament, finishing 10th out of 271 competitors.
At the 2017 European Fencing Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia, Ndolo won silver in the women’s épée event.
Ndolo also won a bronze medal at the 2019 European Fencing Championships, which were held in Düsseldorf, Germany.