In a ground-breaking new initiative, the International Olympic Academy (IOA), the Hellenic Olympic Committee (HOC) and Costa Navarino in Greece, have announced during a virtual event, the world’s first International Olympic Academy Golf Course. The name of the new course, which is located at Costa Navarino’s Navarino Hills symbolises the links between golf and Olympism, as it is the nearest golf development to Ancient Olympia, birthplace of the Olympic Games.
Today’s announcement – on the occasion when the International Olympic Day is celebrated across the world – comes at a time when golf’s popularity continues to soar and is expected to be one of the main attractions in Tokyo this summer, following its spectacular return to the Olympics at Rio in 2016. The new partnership between the IOA and Costa Navarino, with the significant contribution of the HOC, is guided by the principles and values of Olympism and aims to promote Olympic Education through a variety of activities in both Costa Navarino and the IOA premises, and will play a key role in helping to promote golf to an expanding worldwide audience.
The naming of the new International Olympic Academy Golf Course reflects the IOA, HOC and Costa Navarino’s shared values of sustainability, personal welfare, education, and growth. The course is one of two 18-hole signature courses at Navarino Hills, which have been designed by two-time Masters champion José María Olazábal and will fully open in spring 2022.
During today’s event, moderated by Sky Sports’ David Jones, the general manager of Costa Navarino Golf, Nuno Sepulveda, joined live from Navarino Hills, together with members from Costa Navarino’s Junior Golf Academy, representing the sport’s future bright stars. Representatives from the HOC, the IOA, the Hellenic Golf Federation and Costa Navarino spoke at the event, while its special guests were the course designer José María Olazábal and GEO Sustainable Golf Champion, Suzann Pettersen (former Olympian at Rio 2016 and 15-time winner on the LPGA Tour).
Spyros Capralos, President of the Hellenic Olympic Committee and IOC Member, said: “It is with great pleasure that we announce today, during the Olympic day, the cooperation between the Hellenic Olympic Committee, the International Olympic Academy and Costa Navarino, for the world’s first International Olympic Academy Golf Course. We are therefore given the opportunity, through golf, which is a sport without age limits, to call on all citizens to participate in sports activities and to integrate exercise into daily life.”
