German-born Kenyan fencer Alexandra Ndolo is confident of qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics and become the first athlete to represent the country in the sport at the summer games.
Last week, Ndolo received official confirmation and approval from the International Olympic Committee to represent Kenya in Paris next year.
Ndolo beat Algeria's Ines El Batoul Taleb by a score of 15-5 to win the Senior Women's Epee competition during the recently concluded Africa Fencing Championships at the Hassan Mostafa Arena in Cairo, Egypt.
She is now ranked sixth with 144 points in the International Fencing Federation world ranking.
“By the end of April next year, I need to be the highest-ranked African athlete in order to get the ticket to Paris 2024. That is when qualification stops and whoever is the top African athlete by then will get the ticket,” Ndolo said in an interview with a local media.
“The African Championships win was a huge step for me. I am sixth in the world and the next African athlete is like 30 places below me in the rankings, so my chances are quite high,” she added.
The Cologne-based athlete is counting on support from the government the National Olympics Committee of Kenya to make her dream a reality.
The 36-year-old represented Germany for 15 years before switching allegiance to Kenya in 2022. She said it would mean everything if she gets to represent Kenya at the Olympics.
“I am very emotional about the Olympics. It’s been a childhood dream of mine. I want to fly high the Kenyan flag in Paris. I am very emotional about Kenya, about the country of my father,” she said.
“Kenya is the country where half of my family lives. The combination of the love for sport and country, if I will be able to represent Kenya in Paris, would be amazing,” she finalised.
