Kenyan fencing star Ndolo dreaming of Olympic medal at Paris Games

Fast rising fencing star Alexandra Ndolo believes she can win a gold medal at the forthcoming Olympic Games in Paris, France.

Ndolo will go down in the history books as the first Kenyan ever to represent the country in the sport at the Olympics.

A medal for Ndolo in the Paris Games would also mean an addition from the traditional discipline through which Kenya has raked in medals in the past – athletics.

“My goal is to win a medal for sure, because if you can win a silver medal at the World’s you’re also capable - in my opinion of winning a medal at the Olympics. It’s just a matter of good preparation and a good mindset because when you are focused on that day you will be able to sustain the pressures of that huge Olympic event,” said Ndolo, who won a bronze for Germany at the World Fencing Championships in 2022 in Cairo, Egypt.

The 37-year old first competed for Germany for 15 years but has now switched allegiance to Kenya, and has already won the African title in Casablanca, Morocco in June last year.

She qualified for the Paris Olympic Games after the 2024 FIE Women's Epee World Cup that ended on March 22, in Nanjing, China which was the last qualifying championship for the Paris Olympics.

She now says that she will attend training camps and competitions in France and Poland among other places as she intensifies her Olympic preparations.

“I will have one competition in Colombia in May and at the end of May I have one more competition in the United Arab Emirates. I will have the African Championship again in June in Morocco before going to Germany for a six-day rest.

“After that I will go to France for some training camps then head to Poland for more training, it’s a busy schedule, but the aim is to be in the best shape by the time I compete in the Paris Games.”

Ndolo finished 11th overall out of 200 contestants, a performance that placed her at14th in the world, in the 2023/2024 ranking - the highest placed African.

Alexandra's late dad Dr. Donald Ndolo was a Kenyan while her mother - Barbara Sabarth is from Poland. The two met while he was undertaking a master's degree in Poland.