Aarhus World Championships
Alican Kaynar is chasing the dream of becoming the first Turkish sailor to win an Olympic medal.
He's appeared at two Olympic Games - London 2012 and Rio 2016 - and is aiming to qualify for Tokyo 2020 at the Hempel Sailing World Championships this August.
A top-eight finish will be his aim in Aarhus as he battles in a competitive Finn class to seal his place at the Games.
Spending almost 200 days training per year, Kaynar has taken time out of studying Industrial Engineering in his home city of Istanbul to focus on qualifying for Tokyo.
His greatest achievement so far in his career is the gold medal he won at Round 3 of the 2017 World Cup Series in Hyères, France.
He also took a place on the podium in Miami, USA with a bronze medal at Round 2.
The World Cup Series Final in Marseille, France saw him just miss out on a podium spot, albeit in agonisingly close fashion.
He picked up two race wins during the week but, following an eighth-place finish in the Medal Race, Kaynar ended up level on points with New Zealand's Andy Maloney, who pipped him for bronze after finishing seventh.
Nevertheless, Kaynar's experience from the World Cup Series will serve him well as he aims to better his 13th-placed finish in Rio and win his country's first sailing medal.
