Alexandra Ndolo

German-born Kenyan fencer Alexandra Ndolo has come out publicly to claim that despite the country taking credit for her achievements, she has never received any support towards her career.

In a post shared on Instagram, she said she has always self-funded. The 36-year-old said she had exhausted her savings and could not single-handedly develop or promote fencing in Kenya.

“All I have received these past 9 months have been empty words & promises from the Kenyan Fencing Federation & Kenyan sports fraternity. I have reached my limit,” she added.

“I have traveled to many competitions without my coach and not once taken a physio with me. For a fencer of my caliber, this is not just unusual, it is unheard off,” she wrote.

Ndolo switched to Kenya in November last year after playing for Germany for the past 15 years. Her father is Kenyan while her mother is Polish. While announcing her move in September last year, she cited that it was “the most difficult decision of her fencing career “.

She hopes to represent Kenya in the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024. She has urged Kenyan authorities to take action.

The National Olympics of Kenya has issued a statement following Ndolo’s allegations, saying when she expressed interest to represent Kenya in the 2024 Olympics, the chairman of the Kenya Fencing Federation explained “the current situation in terms of infrastructural developments and funding in Kenya” and “she made the decision with the information at hand”.

The statement does not cite what “this situation is” but goes ahead to mention that while her approval to switch nationalities was approved on September 17, 2022, the committee is still waiting for a nod from the International Olympics Committee.

If an athlete expresses interest to change nationalities, they have a waiting period of three years to be allowed to compete for a different country, according to the International Olympics Committee Guidelines.