Training in the company of a gymnastics team is only one in
the mosaic of diverse challenges faced by candidates in the Millenium
Athlete Challenge. With personalized training sessions to get the body
in shape, lose weight, and gain muscle mass, the participants have
achieved incredible results after almost three months of effort –
together, they got rid of no less than 34 kg in only two months.

To keep everybody motivated, the training was kept as diverse as
possible. This time, participants in the programme attended a training
session of the Gymnastics Federation of Slovenia, also sponsored by the
BTC Company. Renowned gymnasts – Mitja Petkovšek, Sašo Bertoncelj, Rok
Klavora, Žiga Šilc, and Teja Belak – first warmed up together with the
challengers and then proceeded with their training.

Emilija Hren talked about the flexibility challenge in the company of
the gymnasts: “Today’s training session was definitely different, but
I’m glad that I managed to see it through. The toughest exercise for me
was the leg raise on the wall bars. Because I set myself a clear goal at
the beginning of the programme, which was to lose weight, I try my best
to keep up with the programme prepared by our personal trainers. When I
started training, I had 81 kg. And since the Millenium Athlete
Challenge is coming to a close, I’m proud to announce that I’ve lost 8
kg in the first two months alone.”

The three-month-long Millenium Athlete Challenge promised to help
five candidates with weight loss and body-shaping before the summer
season by providing them with an active training programme. In Sports
Centre Millenium and the Fitness Clinic of the Professional Health
Centre in Atlantis Water Park, four experienced professional trainers
accompanied the challengers since March, guiding them in their training,
encouraging them, and keeping track of their results. When it comes to
weight loss, the wide-ranging line of Athlete sports nutrition products
was of great help to all involved in the challenge.
“Old habits die
hard, especially if they’re as delicious as chocolate,” joked Darko
Stranjak, and added: “But food and exercise are important. I’m happy to
note that the three months of sweating have paid off – in the first two
months, I reduced my assessed metabolic age by 11 years and lost 9.3 kg.
I feel great! The coaches always stood by our side and encouraged us to
go on, but a big part of this success story is also the quality diet,
accompanied by nutritious Athlete shakes and bars. I’m glad I could join
the Millenium Athlete Challenge, since the encouraging words of the
coaches and the diverse training sessions give me great motivation. In
the company of gymnasts I realized that, despite my age, I’m still
pretty flexible,” Darko said after the gymnastics session.

In addition to some well-known faces, namely Salome and Werner, the
Millenium Athlete Challenge enabled three other challengers to step into
summer with an attractive figure. Their last training session will take
place next week. The final measurements will show how successful the
participants in the Millenium Athlete Challenge really were in attaining
their goals of losing weight, getting in shape, and going for that
perfect figure.

Supporting projects that encourage an active lifestyle is one of the
priorities among the socially responsible activities of the BTC Company.
Through these projects, the spirit of dynamism and an active lifestyle
is transferred onto society at large, forming an even closer bond
between the company and the stakeholders. Among other things, the BTC
Company is a long time supporter of Slovenian gymnastics, once again
showing support by signing eight new sponsorship deals with select
gymnasts this January.

Additional information:

Maja Oven, Director of the Market Communication and Public Relations Sector

• T: +386 (0)1 585 13 15
• E: maja.oven@btc.si