Ambitious Campaign to make History

Ahmad Ahmadi

Ahmad Ahmadi is aiming to become the first Iranian sailor to compete at the Olympic Games.

He almost made it to the London 2012 Olympics in the Laser, but has now stepped up full-time to the Finn to pursue his dream. He first stepped into a Finn in 2015 and took part in the Rio 2016 continental qualifier in Qingdao, but once again failed to qualify.

Ahmadi is determined that Tokyo 2020 will be his turn, and while any Olympic campaign is fraught with challenges, his may be more extensive.

Not only is he struggling to fund his training and event programme, but he has also faced visa and travel restrictions that have made it difficult to train with other Finn sailors. It is no easy path he has chosen, but he is up for the challenge of both mastering the Finn and mastering his situation.

“As the only Iranian sailing at an International level, and one of the few Finn sailors from Asia, I am looking forward to making history for the first time by sailing in the Tokyo Olympics; and make my dreams comes true. So far, I’m doing my best, but I’m really struggling with my campaign towards Tokyo.”

Funding is chief among his struggles.

“Because sailing is a new sport and I am the only one keeping the flame of sailing alive in Iran, so far I have been unable to get a sponsor to help me train and compete properly. I am getting no help from my country and I have been putting together budgets to keep my campaign alive in really bad conditions and asking banks to help.

“But with the dream I have, nothing can stop me and I have to finish what I started.”

His campaign begins in earnest at the 2017 Finn Gold Cup at Balatonfoldvar in Hungary on September 1. After that he will be training and competing in preparation for the first Olympic qualification event in August 2018 in Aarhus, Denmark.

“With the condition I have and the situation I am in, I am putting 100 percent effort into training hard, in the gym, out of boat and especially when I’m in the boat.

“I want to make history because I have the abilities, because the people in my country, in my city, and my family have been waiting for many years. I am totally focused and dedicated towards this dream, but I need help.”

Ahmad’s crowdfunding campaign can be found here: https://www.gofundme.com/44p6pwg and he can be contacted at awatemeniem@yahoo.com.

Source: Robert Deaves