Challenge Family is joining forces with one of the mot prestigious sporting facilities in Europe to bring the global triathlon series to Slovakia in 2016. Challenge Samorin was announced today at Elements Resort together with a multi-day sports festival that will take place on 15-21 August.
Challenge Samorin race director Stefan Kral outlined the details of the new half distance race and its unique location.
“Elements Resort in Šamorín is the ideal place for sports and is becoming the Mecca of Slovak and European sport. Within Challenge Samorin, we will organize not one but a series of triathlon competitions, ranging from sprint distance (750 m swimming – 20km cycling – 5 km running) to Olympic distance (1500 m – 40km – 10km), to the main half distance (1900 m – 90km – 21,1km),” he said.
 Elements Resort, host of Challenge Samorin(Photo: Challenge Family; click to enlarge) |
“The attractiveness of our event is proved by the early confirmed attendance of several top Czech and Slovak triathletes – Peter Vabroušek, Karol Džalaj, Kristína Néc-Lapinová, Nikola Corbová and the world star triathlete and current ETU European Middle Distance Champion, Filip Ospalý.
“The competition is open to athletes of all age categories and performance levels – you can compete with the best and experience the atmosphere of a competition with hundreds of competitors and thousands of encouraging spectators by the course. Challenge triathlons take families into account too – a part of the festival is a training camp for children and youth, together with the best professional triathletes taking part, aquathlon and children’s triathlon competitions in the end. With the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro taking place at the same time as Challenge Samorin, we will have a big fan zone with large screens, where fans can enjoy the Olympic atmosphere together and support their favorite athletes in Rio.”
The Challenge Samorin course will be extraordinary with its variety. Swimming will be interesting and challenging at the same time, as it will take place in the Danube River by the Kormorán lagoon, where the river is wide and shallow, with a calmer current. For the cycling part, athletes will start on Cilistovská Street, followed by Pácerová Street which will direct them to the village of Bác. Consequently, they will reach Gabcíkovo and will cross the dam to go to Vojka, where they turn around and head back. The running course will be directly in Elements Resort, with the finish line at the athletic stadium. The athletes will be able to admire the beauty of villages typical to Southern Slovakia, the vastness of the Danube River and the magnificent nature of the Danube Lowlands.
“Elements Resort needs to be seen to be believed,” said Challenge Family CEO, Zibi Szlufcik. “Set on the banks of the famous River Danube, its facilities are infrastructure are second to none and I have no doubt it has the potential to be the leading triathlon training facility in Europe. We’re extremely excited to be working with Stefan and the team at Elements in not only bringing Challenge Family to Slovakia but also bringing Elements to the triathlon world. This race truly fits our commitment to exceptional races in iconic destinations.”
Further information on Challenge Samorin can be found at www.challenge-samorin.sk. Entries will open in early December.
