Support Aija Ambrasa on the Road to Paris

My name is Aija Ambrasa and I am a 38-year-old kitesurfer from Latvia. I started kitesurfing in 2008 and, eventually, in 2016 I quit my day job to launch my kitesurfing school and commit to my passion full-time. In 2017 and 2019, I was the winner of one of the biggest snow-kitesurfing races of the world - Red Bull Ragnarok in Norway. I dreamt that if kitesurfing were to ever become an Olympic discipline, I would like to represent my country in the discipline. In 2020 it became official - kitesurfing was announced as a discipline for the Paris Olympic games 2024.

In September of 2022, I found out that, in order to qualify, I had to gain more points in the world rankings. Even though I was recovering from an injury at that time, I understood this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I embarked on my journey to the World and European championships with empty bags, leaning on my savings to buy all the gear second-hand; ultimately, I managed to score the necessary points to qualify Latvia for the Olympic events.

My understanding is that I have to give it all or quit. So far, I have been supplementing my passions with a day job as an owner of a kitesurfing school and an instructor since November, financing my Olympic discipline with my personal funds. It is crucial for me to continue my training with the same ferocity, but to do this, I need your help.

There are still more than 400 days for me to attain my best results and qualify for participation in the Olympic games. Seeing as I have no current sponsors and no government support, I am raising money to cover my travel expenses and buy new equipment since my training kites are worn out from practice.

Equipment:

- Kite size 9 and 19

- Replace training kite size 15

Participation in the events:

- Paris Test Event, Marseille 07-16.07.2023

- Sailing World Championships (Olympic Qualifier) 10.08-20.08.2023

- European Championships (Olympic Qualifier) - 16.09-24.09

Your contribution will ensure that I can participate in the qualifying events and continue my training. Additionally, I really hope that I will inspire someone to follow their dreams, even if it seems too late and unattainable. I will be forever thankful for any support--be it through financial contribution, following my journey on social media, or simply sharing this message with your network. I look forward to sharing my journey with you.