8th Navarino Challenge: October 16-18 2020 With The Participation Of Olympic Medalists & World Champions

Navarino Challenge, the award-winning sports tourism event that every year brings together people of all ages and abilities, returns for 8th consecutive year in Messinia, Pylos, and Costa Navarino, on October 16-18, 2020. The top wellness event, as highlighted at the World Travel Market in London, which promotes Olympic values ​​and “fair play” will be held with the utmost safety of all participants and attendees.

The event, taking into account the current health conditions, is organized with the strict specifications set by the Ministry of Tourism, the General Secretariat of Sports, and the relevant sports federations. With the safety and health of all participants and staff as its main priority, Navarino Challenge will be conducted based on the health protocol established by experienced staff, certified by the World Health Organization, following the instructions of General Secretariat of Sports’ expert scientists-collaborators as well as the epidemiological data and suggestions of the General Secretariat of Sports’ Health Committee.

Navarino Challenge promotes and supports actions that highlight the history and cultural heritage of our country and more specifically the undeniable value of the Greek language. The Greek language has been a source of inspiration and culture for many countries since many foreign languages ​​use words deriving from ancient Greek. Words such as athlete, energy, harmony, ideals which are used around the world, are highlighted in this year’s video that presents all wellness activities of the 8th Navarino Challenge. 

Participants in this year’s Navarino Challenge will have the opportunity to enjoy exercising along with significant personalities from the wellness field, such as: the physical education instructor Mandy Persaki, the trainer of F45, Barrio Salamanca, Tess Arlauckas, and the personal trainer Dimitris Moros, as well as athletic partners such as FitnessArt, Navarino Outdoors, Navarino Racquet Academy, with the experience and dynamic of the Panellinios Agora Games and the Navarino Golf Academy. In addition, the following instructors will be present: the boxing champion Christos Gatsis, with the 2 support of the Vizantinos target sports club, the kickboxing champion Alexandros Nikolaidis, the table tennis champion and international career model Ioanna Papadimitriou as well as athletic partners such as Swim Academy and Red Swim Academy. For the first time, a beach volley tournament will be held by the champion and pioneer of the sport, Michalis Triantafyllidis.

Top international female basketball player of all time Evina Maltsi meets Euroleague legend Joe Arlauckas at the Navarino Challenge 2020.

The Greek Women’s National Team all-time top scorer and former WNBA player will be an honoree guest at this year’s event. In the context of her participation, Evina Maltsi stated: “It is my honor and pleasure to participate in the 8th Navarino Challenge which is a huge sporting event in a beautiful tourism destination. I hope that this event can live on for one thousand years. What the event stands for, is completely in line with my beliefs, the dissemination of the Olympic idea. It is a wonderful place that can combine sports tourism and attract more people who will adopt the Olympic values ​​as a way of life. As a basketball player, it will be my pleasure to introduce the sport that I have served for more than 25 years, to as many children as I can”.

Dynamic sports will also be included in this year’s award-winning event’s schedule. Specifically, the Olympic and world champion in 400m with hurdles, Periklis Iakovakis, the two-time silver Olympic medalist Alexandros Nikolaidis, the gold Paralympic medalist and world champion of Boccia Grigoris Polychronidis, the European champion, Miltos Tentoglou, as well as the top track and field coach George Pomaski, will be present at the event.

A demonstration of sailing races with OPTIMIST and LASER boats will be held in the Municipality of Pylos-Nestor at the bay of Navarino, by the Maritime Athletic Pylos Association “Nestor”. The “Forgotten Heroes” races will be held in honor of Anastasios Tsamados, Nikolaos Votsis, Stavros Sachinis, Georgios Sachtouris, and the ghost sailors of the warship (brig) Aris of Tsamados. The “Aris” ship (also known as “Athena” during the period 1829–1879) is considered as one of the most glorious ships of the Greek navy in the Greek war of independence, which was owned by the fearless captain, the admiral Anastasios Tsamados. It was the last ship to break through the enemy siege, putting seven enemy ships out of battle, during the siege of the island of Sphacteria at the Battle of Sphacteria on April 26, 1825.

This year, Navarino Challenge through its actions will support the following CSR partners: Through the “Captain Vasilis and Carmen Konstantakopoulos Foundation”, it will support a) Karkinaki and b) Dogs’ Voice, while will also directly support c) Fashion Targets Breast and Prostate Cancer.

The energy you need to start your day stronger

The favorite breakfast cereal bars FITNESS®, as the Official Breakfast Partner of Navarino Challenge, will be by the side of the participants, giving them the energy they need to meet the challenges they will encounter during this unique event! With their B- complex vitamins that help release energy from food, they form the ideal choice for a delicious and balanced breakfast.

Enjoy a weekend full of outdoor wellness activities for people of all ages. For more information on accommodation packages at The Westin Resort Costa Navarino you may send your email to booking(at)navarinochallenge.com or call Vita N Travel at +30 210 3249070.

Entries for the event’s top Greek Half-marathon (21.1km), 10km, 5km by Samsung and 1km children’s races are underway and interested parties can participate by completing the available here. 

Take advantage of the offer by the event’s Official Technology Partner, Samsung Electronics Hellas. Samsung and Navarino Challenge will offer all participants the opportunity to purchase the Galaxy S20, S20+ & Galaxy Z Flip, with a 20% discount upon completion of their registration.

The top Greek rental company Avance, as the event’s official car rental partner, provides participants of Navarino Challenge with an opportunity to make their reservation, with a 15% discount on the official price list, for any vehicle of their choice regarding their travel to Messinia during the period of the event. In terms of bookings, participants need to send an email to reserv(at)avance.gr.

Navarino Challenge is held under the auspices of the Greek National Tourism Organization with the support of the Pylos-Nestor Municipality. Navarino Challenge has joined the Greek actions of the #BeactiveHellas 2020 program of the European Commission and is held under the auspices of the General Secretariat of Sports. All running races are co-organized with Messiniakos Gymnastic Club and EAS SEGAS Peloponnese Region.