Kenyan Olympian Laments Travel Hitch that Forced Her to Use Donated Kit at African Championship

Alexandra Ndolo has complained over how an airline messed up her preparation for African Fencing Championship. Photos: Alexandra Ndolo/Instagram

Kenyan Olympian Laments Travel Hitch that Forced Her to Use Donated Kit at African Championship

Joel Omotto 13:05 - 28.06.2025

Kenyan fencer Alexandra Ndolo has slammed an airline for messing up her preparations for the African Championship where she defended her title using donated kit from rivals.

Kenyan fencer Alexandra Ndolo has had to deal with a number of setbacks in recent years and it seems her woes are far from over.

Ndolo has just defended her African Championships title in Lagos, Nigeria, where she defeated Egypt’s Nardin Ehab 13-7 in the final of the Women’s Individual Epee.

However, she nearly missed a chance to defend her title after she arrived in the Nigerian city without her luggage, which had her fencing kit that she needed to use for the championship.

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However, in the spirit of Pan-Africanism, Ndolo’s competitors came to her aid, putting rivalry aside to help her participate in what was a great show of sportsmanship.

“Managed to win gold at the African Championship for Kenya a third consecutive time, but in all honesty, this was a Pan African win,” Ndolo shared on Instagram.

Ndolo Hits Out at Airline for Messing Her Preparations

Alexandra Ndolo

“When I arrived in Lagos Tuesday night, my baggage did not. It was left behind in Paris.

“After a full day spend (sic) in contact with WhatsApp, online and hotline customer service of a prominent airline (the name shall remain unknown), I had to accept that I would not be able to fence with my own equipment.”

Ndolo then went on to give an account of how her colleagues from different competing nations donated different sets of kits to enable her to compete.

“What happened next was a true testimony to the close-knit family that we are in fencing,” she added.

“Fencers from South Africa (mask), Morocco (Epée’s and body wires), the Ivory Coast (chest protector) and a local Nigerian kid (shoes) came to the rescue. Thanks to all of them I could defend my title. Asante sana from the bottom of my heart.”

Ndolo’s resilience has seen her overcome a number of obstacles to achieve success, having faced financial and logistical challenges during the course of her career, including in her qualification journey to the Paris 2024 Olympics when she had to foot some of her bills during the qualifiers.