by Ben Ayuko
contact info: benayuko@gmail.com
{image by GettyImages}
Alexandra Ndolo made her country proud when she became the first person in Kenya’s history– male or female– to represent Kenya in Fencing at the Olympic games.
The 2022 women’s epee world silver medalist participated in the Tableau of 32 where she came up against her old nemesis- Olena Kryvytska of Ukraine- who was also once the world silver medalist. It was a tough draw for her first round.
The last time they met was in the European Olympic Qualifiers in 2021. where they had a similarly long and hard-fought battle. Back then, Ndolo– who was representing Germany at the time– fell behind early in the 1st round but did well to recover and catch up going into the 3rd round. Unfortunately, she had left herself with too much to do and ended up losing the bout 15-12.
This time round, it was a much closer contest as both women went point for point through all the rounds. The points were tied 12-12, meaning the judges had to usher them into sudden death in order to determine a winner. For football fans, this is akin to the golden goal rule in extra time.
As luck would have, it was not to be Ndolo’s night as she took a hit early in overtime, bringing the match to a close.
Her nemesis, Kryvytska, would go on to have another tough match against Ruien Xiao from Canada. She just about edged it at 15-14. She would advance into the quarterfinals where she would meet her match in, eventual winner, Vivian Man Wai from Hong Kong, who overwhelmed her with a score of 15-7.
After the bout, Ndolo would reveal some doubts that she had about representing Team Kenya in a future tournament.
When asked a question on the topic, she responded, “…if the environment around me will allow, I will continue fencing for Kenya. If it doesn’t, you know, I have told you many times that I will quit. I wish to keep representing Kenya but only if the structures are there to do it properly.”
The 2023 African Champion had previously called out the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) for letting her down.
In an Instagram post, she vented her frustration at missing out on the first World Cup of the 2023/24 season in Legnano, Italy after the federation failed to register her for the competition.