Ndolo part of Kenya's Paris plans despite funding furor

The Kenyan Olympic Committee said on Tuesday that German-born fencer Alexandra Ndolo, 32, is central to Kenya's plans for the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Ndolo, a silver medalist for Germany at the 2022 FIE Fencing World Championships in Egypt, switched allegiance to her father's native country in September last year.

She is considered a medal prospect in a country that heavily leans on its gifted distance runners for Olympic glory.

Ndolo hit the headlines on Monday when she accused the Kenya Fencing Federation (KFF) and other sporting authorities, including Olympics Kenya, of lacking financial support to help realize her medal dream in the French capital.

Olympics Kenya issued a statement on Tuesday, explaining it is yet to receive clearance from the International Olympic Committee for a waiver of the waiting period required for a naturalized athlete to compete for another nation.

IOC rules stipulate an athlete transferring nationality should wait for three years before becoming eligible to compete for another country, though waivers can be considered if all federations and National Olympic Committees (NOCs) involved unconditionally release the athlete.

Kenya has since lodged an application with the IOC for Ndolo's bid to compete for the East African country at Paris 2024.

Olympics Kenya general secretary Francis Mutuku said the committee that will consider this application will next sit in June. Following this, Olympics Kenya will be advised on whether a waiver has been granted or not.

"Financial support available from NOC-K could not be processed as it falls under the Olympics Solidarity for which the above process needs to be completed," Mutuku explained in a statement.

According to Mutuku, the German Fencing Federation released Ndolo to compete for Kenya on Sept 9, 2022. The International Fencing Federation (FIE) approved the request to change nationality on Sept 17, 2022.

On April 24, a letter from the National Olympic Committee of Germany gave Ndolo a waiver of no objection after Olympics Kenya requested the same.

This cleared the path for Ndolo to compete for the East African nation in Paris, subject to IOC approval.

Mutuku emphasized that funds from these programs also support other athletes, such as female tennis hopeful and African champion Angella Okutoyi, now based in the United States.

He maintained that the funds are insufficient to support individual athletes who may need to participate in several international events in order to earn world-ranking points.

Mutuku announced that Olympics Kenya will hold a retreat with the country's Ministry of Youth Affairs, the Arts and Sports to discuss all aspects of qualification and participation for Paris 2024.

"The retreat is expected to devise strategic direction, including but not limited to pathways of potential sports toward the Olympics. Ndolo is among the athletes whose pathway is a priority with high chances of succeeding at the Olympics," Mutuku said.

Xinhua