ONGARE Christine

Olympic qualifying results
She qualified for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo by winning a bronze medal in the flyweight category at the African qualifying tournament in Dakar, Senegal. (edition.cnn.com, 02 Mar 2020)

General
YOUNG MOTHER
She became pregnant with her daughter at age 12, and says she endured a difficult childhood in Nairobi, Kenya. She hopes to use her sport to provide a better life for her family. "I have gone through a tough life, so hard. I fell pregnant when I was 12 years old. So my mum took the responsibility of raising my child. A single mother raised me and I will forever be indebted to her, she brought up my child like her own. I was just a small child. It has been a struggle to reach here [the Olympic qualification tournament]. There's no other place [than boxing] I can get money, [or] take a loan without interest. In Eastlands [in Nairobi, Kenya] many young ladies look up to me but they cannot pursue boxing or any other sport because they became mothers at a young age, just like I did, due to desperation, being raised by single parents and drug addiction. They are weighed down by the struggle to meet even the most basic needs like food for their kids and it is not easy. If I compete at the Olympics, it will open doors, it will help me a lot. The money I get will change my life. I want to give my family a decent life." (modernghana.com, 02 Mar 2020; edition.cnn.com, 02 Mar 2020; kenyans.co.ke, 29 Feb 2020; tokyo2020.org, 03 Mar 2020; pd.co.ke, 02 Mar 2020)

She became the first female Kenyan boxer to win a Commonwealth Games medal in the sport, when she claimed bronze in the flyweight category at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, QLD, Australia. (SportsDeskOnline, 01 Apr 2020; modernghana.com, 02 Mar 2020)