Most of the Olympic sports - fencing, synchronised swimming, gymnastics, water polo - are also unfamiliar to most Kenyans.

BBC: Viewpoint: Could Kenya host the Olympics in 2024?

Eight Olympic sports, including fencing, and shooting, and four Paralympic sports saw their funding slashed by over 50% in January.

BBC: Officials hail new Olympic cash

The energy for the campaign originated with Ankie Spitzer, whose husband, Andrei, was the fencing coach of the Israeli Olympic delegation in 1972.

CNN: Olympics, mark dark day in Munich

The journey has improved since the Ukrainian Fencing Association bought her a new hatchback with private number plates and the Olympic rings plastered across the bodywork.

BBC: Olga Kharlan fights her way to a new life

After making the move to fencing from swimming, she was instantly transfixed, rising through the ranks to make her Olympic debut at Athens, Greece, in 2004, aged just 20.

CNN: The wonder of Yu: Paralympic fencer's Bolt regret