In a class of their own: three Olympic sportswomen talk about overcoming war, hardship and the Taliban

One of Alexandra Ndolo’s greatest career achievements so far is winning a silver medal for Germany at the world fencing championships in Cairo in 2022. But when the daughter of a Polish mother and Kenyan father looked up and saw the Kenyan flag hanging from the roof of the arena for the one athlete who hadn’t won anything, she had a moment of reckoning.

When she announced she would fence for Kenya, some people were bemused. They didn’t know what the sport was and why athletes wore white suits. Some thought it involved building fences. Ndolo remains proud to represent the Kenyan people. “Kenyans will support any champion, any effort, they’re so enthusiastic and it’s just so much fun,” she says. “It’s beautiful to see that I can put a smile on people’s faces.”The only Lebanese athlete who qualified for the Paris Olympics is a woman who hopes to bring a medal home to a country grappling with war and poverty.

Bassil’s mother, Joyce Bassil, says her daughter “grew up in a sporty family” – both she and her husband were volleyball champions. “Ray started hunting with her dad when she was eight.”She initially had mixed feelings when her daughter started shooting. “I was worried. She would come home with a bruised shoulder and cheek, .” Ray competed for the first time on the international stage at 15, winning a gold medal.

Joyce Bassil has faith in her daughter. “This year, Ray sacrificed a lot. I believe she will come back with an Olympic medal,” she says.The first time Manizha Talash saw breakdancing was on Facebook and she couldn’t believe it was happening right there, in her own city of Kabul. To protect her family, she adopted the surname Talash, which means effort or striving in Dari, the majority language in. Stateless and without a passport, she spent a year stuck indoors in Pakistan, unable to train, before being airlifted out on a Spanish military plane.‘I’m a young woman who just wants to do a sport that I enjoy a lot but I can’t live in my country,’ says Talash.

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