Fencing is a sport that evolved from ancient sword fighting. It is played using three swords that differ in rules, signature style during play, and size: épée (the heaviest and the largest), foil (the lightest), or sabre (a soldier’s sword). The swords are used to attack an opponent and defend oneself in order to win the game. Fencing became an Olympic sport in 1896, but the Kenyan flag had never been sighted in fencing competitions before the 2022 World Fencing Championships in Cairo. This monumental moment in Kenya’s sports history is attributed to the resolute efforts of Alexandra Ndolo. Ndolo is professional fencer with Kenyan and German citizenship courtesy of her mixed heritage.
Ndolo’s Introduction to Fencing
Alexandra Ndolo grew up in Germany where fencing is a popular sport, and her first interaction with fencing was at the tender age of nine. She was an onlooker in her elder sister’s modern pentathlon training, a one touch épée sport encompassing fencing, horse riding, shooting and swimming.
Ndolo would watch her sister’s training keenly and by the age of ten, her interest had brewed to the brim. At 11, she enrolled in modern pentathlon where she tried out the plethora of events packaged in the sport. Ndolo appreciated this rich experience, but one thing was clear for her: she wanted to fence. By this time, her elder sister was a fencer training professionally, but they both couldn’t enroll in pro fencing because of the premium cost of the sport.
Fencing in Germany
This didn’t stop Ndolo’s fencing pursuit. She joined another fencing training team which, to her dismay, was scrapped when she was 16. This devastated Ndolo, toning down her fire a little. At 21 years however, she resolved to go pro and moved to the city of Bonn where she reignited her passion for the game. Ndolo trained with the national team at Bonn, steering herself on the runway for success. Once ready for competitions, she threw herself in the ring and won five gold medals at various European U23 circuits between 2013 and 2018. Remarkably, she clinched a silver medal for Germany in the World Championships held in Cairo, in 2022.
Switching Allegiance
After 15 successful years of fencing under the German Fencing Federation (DFB), Ndolo’s fencing career underwent a paradigm shift in 2022. She bowed out of fencing for Germany and sought to pick up her sword while dressed in the unmistakable black, red, green, and white colours of the Kenyan flag.
Ndolo harkened to her Kenyan ancestry and sought to awaken the sleeping giant the country is when it comes to rare and fringe sports. She was spurred by the same vision that saw her engineer the setting up of the Kenya Fencing Federation in 2019.
Fencing in Her Fatherland
Ndolo first competed for Kenya at the Epée World Cup in Tallin, Estonia in November 2022 where she came 10th out of 271 participants. She became the first Kenyan woman to ever compete at an FIE event.
Ndolo also appeared in the 2024 Olympic Games. It is worth noting that her journey as a Kenyan fencer hasn’t been devoid of adversity. Financial constraints stand in the way of Ndolo’s vision of fencing successfully in Kenya as she is a self-sponsoring athlete despite representing the country internationally and heralding fencing locally. In the face of these challenges, Ndolo hasn’t reserved fencing for herself. She envisions legendary fencing in Kenyan grassroots and has already introduced the sport to children in Nairobi’s Huruma area.
She is one of a kind among #KeWachezaji and we cheer her on as she continues to raise the country’s flag.