Pınar Saka

Pınar Saka — Biography

Pınar Saka was born on November 5, 1985, in the Üsküdar district of Istanbul; she studied international business at the University of Nebraska in the United States before completing a master's degree at Boğaziçi University.

As a sprinter, she was named Midwest Regional Athlete of the Year by the NCAA in both 2008 and 2009 and went on to win the national award that same year. She took bronze in the 4x400m relay at the 2005 Mediterranean Games and holds the Turkish national record in the 400m, and she remains the first and only Turkish woman to have qualified for the 400m at the Olympics, competing at the 2012 London Games.

Beyond athletics, she became widely known after joining the 2017 season of Survivor on TV8, produced and hosted by Acun Ilıcalı, and continues to be counted among the show's most recognizable former contestants.