Kenya’s Alexandra Ndolo Secures First Place at Senior African Fencing Championships

After winning gold at the Senior African Championships in Hassan Mostafa Arena in Cairo, Egypt, Kenya’s first-ever Olympic fencer, Alexandra Ndolo, is one step closer to making history.

Kenya’s first-ever fencing medal was won by Ndolo, who defeated Algeria’s Ines El Batoul Taleb by a score of 15-5.

After receiving a bye into the round of 16, where she defeated Tufaha Uwihoreye 15-7, the 36-year-old was poised to face Charlene Boukhelifa of Algeria in the quarter-finals.

Ndolo defeated the Algerian, 15-0, and advanced to face Egypt’s Aya Hussein, whom she defeated, 15-7.

Ndolo, who had a Polish mother and a Kenyan father, renounced her German citizenship and professed her allegiance to Kenya.

In 2013, she competed for Germany in the Universiade in Kazan, Russia. She has attended the World Fencing Championships three times, in 2015, 2017, and 2019. At the 2017 European Fencing Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia, Ndolo placed second in the women’s épée event. At the 2019 European Fencing Championships in Düsseldorf, Germany, Ndolo won a bronze medal as well.

She competed in the women’s Èpée event at both the 2022 World Fencing Championships in Cairo, Egypt and the 2022 European Fencing Championships in Antalya, Turkey, where she won silver.

She finished 10th out of 271 competitors, making history as the first Kenyan woman to compete in a major World Fencing tournament.