{"id":27932,"date":"2025-08-19T13:35:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-19T11:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/challengefamily.com\/?post_type=news&#038;p=27932"},"modified":"2025-08-19T10:33:03","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T08:33:03","slug":"challenge-samarkand-set-for-a-great-2025-edition","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.challenge-family.com\/challenge-family\/news\/challenge-samarkand-set-for-a-great-2025-edition\/","title":{"rendered":"Challenge Samarkand Set for a Great 2025 Edition"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>On August 24, Challenge Samarkand will return for its third edition, once again set against the historic backdrop of the Old Silk Road. The race brings together a competitive professional field and age-group athletes from around the world, ready to take on one of triathlon\u2019s most unique destinations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the men\u2019s field, Will Draper (GBR) lines up after a strong season, including a win at Challenge Mog\u00e1n-Gran Canaria and second place at Challenge St. P\u00f6lten. Olympian Henri Schoeman (RSA) will seek redemption after a tough day at DATEV Challenge Roth, while Ognjen Stojanovic (SRB), second at Challenge Cesenatico, brings experience from a busy season. Marcel Bolbat (GER), with wins at Challenge Israman and Challenge Gda\u0144sk this year, is another strong contender. Additionally, making his Challenge Family debut is Max Stapley (GBR).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The women\u2019s field is led by Sara Perez Sala (ESP), second at Challenge Sir Bani Yas, and Marta Lagownik (POL), winner of Challenge Mog\u00e1n-Gran Canaria and consistently on the podium this year. Chloe Sparrow (GBR), winner of Challenge St. P\u00f6lten, makes her return after recovering from injury, while Anna Bergsten (SWE), second at Challenge Vieux Boucau last year, looks to turn around a difficult season. Amelia Watkinson (NZL), winner of Challenge Taiwan Half in 2023, is also back in form after recent podium finishes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Challenge Samarkand takes place on Sunday, with the men\u2019s race starting at 7:00 a.m. local time. Live coverage and timing will be available at www.challenge-family.live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Live updates and timing will be available at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.challenge-family.live\">www.challenge-family.live<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more information, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/challenge-samarkand.com\/?_gl=1%2Agrw0pd%2A_gcl_au%2AMjEzNDU4NTM2LjE3NTMxOTk4MzE.\">www.challenge-samarkand.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On August 24, Challenge Samarkand will return for its third edition, once again set against the historic backdrop of the Old Silk Road. The race brings together a competitive professional field and age-group athletes from around the world, ready to take on one of triathlon\u2019s most unique destinations. In the men\u2019s field, Will Draper (GBR) [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":628,"featured_media":27933,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[218,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27932","news","type-news","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Challenge Samarkand Set for a Great 2025 Edition - Challenge Family<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.challenge-family.com\/challenge-family\/news\/challenge-samarkand-set-for-a-great-2025-edition\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Challenge Samarkand Set for a Great 2025 Edition - Challenge Family\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On August 24, Challenge Samarkand will return for its third edition, once again set against the historic backdrop of the Old Silk Road. 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In the men\u2019s field, Will Draper (GBR) [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.challenge-family.com\/challenge-family\/news\/challenge-samarkand-set-for-a-great-2025-edition\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Challenge Family\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.challenge-family.com\/challenge-family\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/75\/2025\/08\/IMG_5277.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2048\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1366\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.challenge-family.com\/challenge-family\/news\/challenge-samarkand-set-for-a-great-2025-edition\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.challenge-family.com\/challenge-family\/news\/challenge-samarkand-set-for-a-great-2025-edition\/\",\"name\":\"Challenge Samarkand Set for a Great 2025 Edition - 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