NOC-K lauds fencing star Ndolo for choosing to feature for Kenya

National Olympics Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) has lauded the move by German-born Kenyan Alexandra Ndolo who has declared that she will now be representing Kenya in the combat sport competitions.

The 36-year-old who has Polish and Kenyan parentage has competed for her native Germany in Elite sports for the past 15 years.

Through a statement on her social media channels, Ndolo while bidding goodbye to the German Fencing Federation stated that it was an honour to represent her father’s country in the competition.

“To everyone who has been a part of my journey in the past 15 years as a fencer for the German Fencing Federation, as an Athlete for DOSB, as a member of the German Army’s sports division, as an athlete being supported by Deutsche Sporthilfe, thank you.

“To all my athletics friends on Team D, I will never stop rooting for you guys. To my new sports family from Team Kenya and the Kenya Fencing Federation, I can’t wait to meet even more and fight for glory alongside you,”read her statement.

NOC-K Secretary General Francis Mutuku said Ndolo’s move was of immense value to the Kenyan fencing fraternity.

“Seeing as fencing is still for all intents and purposes an emerging sport, we take this move by Alexandra as a plus to us. She is very welcome and we thank her for this move. It is also credit to us for having set a good path so that we can be able to attract talent,” he said.

Mutuku added: “Fencing is literally a standstill sport and to have an experienced athlete with us will definitely be a boost to some of our upcoming fencers. Therefore anyone who comes on board will do us good.

Foundation level

“Since we are at almost the foundation level, her advice will be crucial in building our team. This is a sport that is based on points so we expect a lot of qualifying events with Ndolo helping as well.

“We certainly need more athletes coming through so that our development programmes can shine since a lot of the people we have are older.”

Mutuku particularly focused on the forthcoming Paris 2024 Olympics and how it would be beneficial to plan especially for individual sports.

“It will be great to begin preparations and have support. If we get many other qualified athletes joining our stable then so be it. Most of the single events are for ranking points and therefore qualifications are ongoing,” he noted.