Gaudencia Makokha (born 15 November 1992) is a Kenyan female volleyball player.[1] She was part of the Kenya women's national volleyball team playing beach volleyball at the postponed 2020 Summer Olympics.

Gaudencia Makokha
Personal information
NationalityKenyan
Born (1992-11-15) 15 November 1992 (age 31)
Height1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight68 kg (150 lb)
Spike310 cm (122 in)
Block300 cm (118 in)
Volleyball information
Current clubKenya Pipeline
Number17
National team
Kenya Kenya
Honours
Women's beach volleyball
Representing  Kenya
African Games
Silver medal – second place 2019 Rabat Team

Life

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She was born in 1992 and her birthplace and residence is Nairobi.[2]

In 2017 she and her then volleyball partner, Naomi Too, reached the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships in Vienna, earning $3,400 in prize money.[3]

In 2019 she and Naomi Too won a silver medal at the games at Rabat.[4] She was again in Morocco in 2021 where she played at the African Beach Volleyball Olympic Games qualifiers on 21–28 June.[5]

Too was injured and she could not make the first Olympic trial.[6] Kenya's beach volleyball coach Sammy Mulinge invited Too to the Olympic training although he was concerned by her injury.[7] Too was not included when the volleyball players names for the Olympics were revealed on 26 June 2021.[8] Brackcides Khadambi was called to pair up with Makokha to replace Too. Makokha/ Brackcides Khadambi and Yvonne Wavinya/ Phosca Kasisi make up Kenya's beach volleyball team.[5] They will compete initially with the teams from Brazil, the US and Latvia in pool D.[9] The team were waved off from Kenya by President Uhuru Kenyatta for the Olympics in Tokyo in three batches to try and minimise the chances of being effected by the COVID-19 pandemic.[10] The Kenyan volleyballers stayed in Mombasa for training before flying to Tokyo. Makokha noted that they were the African champions, but the pandemic meant that many of their future opponents had been able to play more matches. Their first match was against Brazil on 26 August.[11] She partnered with Brackcidise Agala at the Olympics in Tokyo.[4]

In 2023 she had a new partner in Yvonne Wavinya and they compete at the African Games in Ghana in 2024.[4]

Clubs

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References

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  1. ^ "Beach Volleyball MAKOKHA Gaudencia". Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 2021-07-22. Retrieved 2021-08-10.
  2. ^ "Beach Volleyball Major Series". beachmajorseries.com. Retrieved 2021-07-14.
  3. ^ "Profile - Gaudencia Makokha". vienna2017.fivb.com. Retrieved 2021-07-14.
  4. ^ a b c "Makokha hopes to go one better in Accra with new partner Wavinya". Nation. 2024-03-08. Retrieved 2024-09-23.
  5. ^ a b "Mulinge names beach volleyball squads for Olympic qualifiers". Citizentv.co.ke. Retrieved 2021-07-13.
  6. ^ Isaboke, Alex (2021-07-21). "Kenya: Coach Mulinge Extols Blackie's Steady Rise in Beach Volleyball". allAfrica.com. Retrieved 2021-07-21.
  7. ^ "Too in as beach volleyball teams begin preps | MozzartSportKe". www.mozzartsportke.com. Retrieved 2021-07-21.
  8. ^ "Kenya unveil roster for the Tokyo Olympics". fivb.com. 26 June 2021. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  9. ^ "Kenyan volleyball team departs for Tokyo Olympics - Xinhua | English.news.cn". www.xinhuanet.com. Retrieved 2021-07-13.
  10. ^ "PHOTOS: Kenya's volleyball queens step out in style for Olympic showdown". Sports Africa. Archived from the original on 19 July 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  11. ^ "Kenya's volleyball team ready for Olympic action". Citizentv.co.ke. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
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