*Undated
Fencing is quite an unfamiliar sport in Kenya but for German born Alexandra Ndolo, the sport gives her a status as the first ever with Kenyan Roots to have taken up the interesting game.
Ndolo is a German National, born of a Kenyan father and a Polish mother, and she is a renowned fencer, who is a guru in the sport, as she prides herself in winning many awards while competing for Germany.
Fencing is a combat sport that involves fighting with a light thin sword, where winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent.
Her late father,Dr Donal Ndolo, moved to Poland for his Master's degree before proceeding to Germany for his doctorate studies where he and his family settled.
The 36-year old has always had passion for the unique sport and began focusing on it seriously in 2007 which has led her to be the first woman of colour to represent the country internationally.
"I like the combination of tactics and precision, the thrill and the possibility of discovering my limits. Fighting with the epee(sword) comes closest to being in a real sword fight because it's not only attacking that is important," she stated in an interview with an international publication.
Ndolo noted that it had always been a dream to introduce and further the sport of fencing in her father's home country which led her to become a founder member of the Kenya Fencing Federation(KFF).
The federation is 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.
In fact, her efforts have proven successful as 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 for expensive equipment, has facilitated youths in Nairobi's Huruma slums to take part in the sport.
This enabled them to train for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics qualifiers earlier in the year.