Alexandra Ndolo: German With Kenyan Roots Raising The Bar In Fencing

Whenever you hear of the term 'fencing', your first thought would be the activity gardeners and technicians do in putting up structures in an enclosed area for extra protection ranging from bush thorns to electric fences. As it turns out, however, it is more than that.

Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. The three disciplines of modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also saber) and each discipline uses a different kind of blade, which shares the same name, and employs its own rules.

The sport involves fighting with a light thin sword, where winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. It is however unfamiliar in the Kenyan atmosphere, known for sports such as football, rugby, and athletics among others.

36-year-old German-born Alexandra Ndolo is aiming to popularize the sport in the country, perhaps moving it away from the common notion that the only place Kenyans know of fencing is by watching it on TV.

Alexandra Ndolo in action at the Fencing World Cup in Estonia on November 13, 2022. /TWITTER.ALEXANDRA NDOLO

"It is one of the most protected combat sports because we have this white suit that protects your body, we have a mask on the face so even though we are fighting with this metal weapon, it's very safe," she explained in an interview on Homeboyz Radio on Sunday, April 9.

Ndolo was born to a Kenyan father and a German mother and switched allegiances from Germany to Kenya in 2022. She is a renowned fencer who is a guru in the sport, as she prides herself in winning many awards while competing for Germany.

She revealed that she began fencing at the age of 21 in Germany and had first encountered the sport at the age of 10.

"I was doing another sport called modern pentathlon which is swimming, running, horseback riding, shooting and fencing, and when I was 21 I specialized. I actually started doing track and field when I was a child but that was just to get...you know how you put the kids in track to get a good sense of their body, just running around," she added.

Ndolo competed for Germany for 15 years before she switched allegiances to Kenya, attributing her decision to her involvement in Kenyan fencing in 2015 in terms of growing the sport and bringing donations on board which eventually led her to be a founding member of the Kenya Fencing Federation (KFF), the national governing body of the Olympics sport of fencing in Kenya where she doubles up as the director of International Relations and National Development.

It was at the 2022 World Championships in Cairo, where she won a silver medal in the women’s apee event that she fully considered the thought of switching her representation to Kenya.

“Last Summer at the World Championships which were held on African soil, I won a medal for Germany but I also saw a Kenyan flag, which was the first time at the World Championships and it was a mix of emotions. I saw the flag raised and I felt I could be part of it and win medals for Kenya, to put the country on the World map,” Ndolo revealed in a previous interview with Capital FM.

From November of that year, she was officially allowed to fence for Kenya. Isaac Wanyoike was the first Kenyan to fence Kenya at the World Championships in Cairo, and this was made possible by the World Fencing Federation which sponsors new Federations that are required to send one athlete to every major championship.

Alexandra Ndolo in action at the Fencing World Cup in Estonia on November 13, 2022. /TWITTER.ALEXANDRA NDOLO

Ndolo’s first competition for Kenya was in Tallinn, Estonia, at a World Cup Epee event and she also proceeded to Canada, where she also competed at a World Cup event, in Kenyan colours. She also competed in Qatar in January.

In Tallinn, the 36-year-old revealed that the feeling and emotion of seeing the Kenyan flag raised and her name called out was massive for her.

“It was so emotional for me. Seeing the Kenyan flag in the hall, and they had to buy it and raise it because of me was massive. It was so cool hearing the announcer say my name and that I represent Kenya. It was so emotional for me,” Ndolo described

After her first three events in Kenyan colours, her biggest dream now is to become the first woman to represent Kenya in fencing at the Olympic Games and her target is Paris in 2024. To qualify for Paris, she needs to attend all the 10 qualification events lined up between April 2023 and April 2024 and accrue enough points to enable her to become top-ranked in Africa.

If she is ranked top in the continent by April 2024, she will get a direct qualification to Paris. As of now, Ndolo is the number one fencer in Africa and among the top 10 in the world.

There are eight World Cup events, one Zonal Championship and one World Championship which comprise the 10 majors she has to compete in and accrue ranking points.

“It would be hugely immense for me. I love being a trailblazer. Before switching to Kenya, I was the first black woman in the German national team and it was huge for me. I love making people see that something is possible. Just showing that Kenya can do it and Kenya can send an athlete to the Olympic Games would be massive for me,” Ndolo further said.

She added; “Of course in my career I want to win and get medals but the second part of it is that I want to leave a legacy. If you have some kid watching me on TV at the Olympics and then 20, 30 years we have a World Champion coming from Kenya and saying she was inspired by me, that would be immeasurable.”

Ndolo further explained that she had to quit pentathlon at the age of 16 due to the dissolution of the training and that the coach had left the region at the time. When she was 21, she moved to the city of Bonn, where the national team trains, and she started training with them.

She started competing at that time and won numerous medals for Germany. Through Ndolo's efforts, she was able to champion for KFF to join the International Fencing Federation in 2020, which makes Kenya fencers eligible to participate in the Olympics.

The sport is one of the main fixtures in the Olympic Games and hence the fencer saw it only fit to help put the country on the global map. Ndolo, who is tasked with sourcing expensive equipment, facilitated youths in Nairobi's Huruma slums to take part in the sport in preparation for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics qualifiers earlier in the year.

“Most people see fencing as an elite sport and that is why I love the fact that the centre is in Huruma. We can have more people from less fortunate areas embrace the sport and I see a lot of talent there.

"It is just that we need more exposure. We need to have more regional competitions around East African countries to ensure we have competitive exposure,” explained Ndolo.

Alexandra Ndolo while previously representing Germany. /CAPITAL GROUP