Alexandra Ndolo becomes first Kenyan woman to compete at fencing World Cup

Alexandra Ndolo made history on Saturday by becoming the first Kenyan woman pro fencer to ever compete at an International Fencing Federation (FIE) World Cup.

An elated Alexandra could not hide her joy and rushed to social media to celebrate the fete as she announced that she had also managed to emerge position 10 out of 271 competitors.

“Not only did I make history as the first Kenyan woman to ever compete in a major

@FIE_fencing event, but I also ended up 10th out of 271 participants ????????????????,” she tweeted.

She added: “Seeing the ???????? flag raised high in the competition hall was a goosebumps moment. This was a great start into the season more to come ⚔️.”

The 36-year-old Kenyan athlete expressed her excitement at witnessing the Kenyan flag hoisted during the prestigious World Cup competition that was held at Tallin in Estonia.

“Not going to lie seeing the flag raised high in the hall was definitely an emotional moment. ❤️ Ended up 10th out of 271 women," she added.

Alexandra claimed a silver for Germany in the last World Championships in Cairo, Egypt and is a two-time European Championships medalist and also doubles up as a model.

After the Estonia World Cup, the former German fencer has set her eyes on Paris 2024 Olympics after she recently confirmed that she had switched her nationality to Kenya.

She was born in Bayreuth, a town in Germany’s Northern Bavaria, and she hopes that her achievements in fencing will encourage more people in Kenya to join and excel in the sport.

“I want to show them that whatever you choose, you can go for it and you can go far,” she told Olympics.com in an exclusive interview published on September 29, 2022.

The first professional Kenyan fencer became an epee fencer at the age of 21, while most fencing athletes start in their teenage years but 15 years later she is raring to go further.

The Kenyan fencer plied her trade at Bayer Leverkusen for a decade after first interacting with the sport at the age of nine through her elder sister who took part in pentathlon.

After bagging five gold medals at a number of European U23 circuits from 2013 to 2018, a silver at the Euros 2017 and a bronze in 2019, Alexandra has gotten sufficient motivation.

She is a founding member of the Kenyan Fencing Federation which sources funds to encourage young people to embrace the sport in Kenya, which is best known for runners.

Isaac Wanyoike was the first Kenyan to compete in the fencing World Championships finishing in position 189 out of 194 competitors, in a move that inspired Alexandra.

Alexander was born in 1986 to Kenyan, Dr Donald Ndolo, who first went to Poland to do his MA in Polish then for his PhD he moved to Germany, where he met the top fencer’s mother.