On July 18, one of the most important national marathon stages in the southern part of Romania took place, more precisely, the National Tokmak competition. The stage, organized by the Dolj Pigeon Association, brought together all pigeon fanciers from Oltenia counties, exceeding ten thousand pigeons at the starting line and over 900 fanciers. Ilie Lupu from Arges is the one who managed to win the 1st place on the launch, while for fanciers competition, the winner was Ovidiu Pietraru, from the same pigeon fancier association. This year, Tokmak Național represented the employment of 10,660 pigeons and of 901 pigeon fanciers from the associations Mehedinți, Gorj, Dolj, Vâlcea, Olt, Argeș and Teleorman. Thus, the competition distances started from over 800 km at the fanciers from Argeș and Teleorman and reached up to over 1,000 km for fanciers from Mehedinți. The launch was very early in the morning, the pigeons being launched at 05:10. The first arrivals were announced more than ten hours after the launch, and the lucky winners are Ilie Lupu, for pigeons, and Ovidiu Pietraru for the fanciers competition, both being members of the Argeș Association.

On July 18, one of the most important national marathon stages in the southern part of Romania took place, more precisely, the National Tokmak competition. The stage, organized by the Dolj Pigeon Association, brought together all pigeon fanciers from Oltenia counties, exceeding ten thousand pigeons at the starting line and over 900 fanciers. Ilie Lupu from Arges is the one who managed to win the 1st place on the launch, while for fanciers competition, the winner was Ovidiu Pietraru, from the same pigeon fancier association. This year, Tokmak Național represented the employment of 10,660 pigeons and of 901 pigeon fanciers from the associations Mehedinți, Gorj, Dolj, Vâlcea, Olt, Argeș and Teleorman. Thus, the competition distances started from over 800 km at the fanciers from Argeș and Teleorman and reached up to over 1,000 km for fanciers from Mehedinți. The launch was very early in the morning, the pigeons being launched at 05:10. The first arrivals were announced more than ten hours after the launch, and the lucky winners are Ilie Lupu, for pigeons, and Ovidiu Pietraru for the fanciers competition, both being members of the Argeș Association.

Ilie Lupu wins Tokmak National 2020 with the hen RO-18-0343150

Ilie Lupu from Pitesti is a fancier passionate with long distance and marathon flights, and the current season can be considered a very good one for him. After an excellent performance at the first marathon competition of the season, Ilie Lupu manages to achieve a real performance at the second marathon. Thanks to the hen RO-18-0343150, who arrived back in the loft at 15:22:16 (855km; 1,397 m/min), Ilie Lupu can note in his record an important result: the 1st place out of 10,660 pigeons at Tokmak National 2020. “I have been competing since 2005 and I participate in the long distance and marathon stages. I compete my pigeons using widowhood method, being separated before the first race of this year. The hen who won the competition is a product of the crossbreeding we did in the loft, without having a spectacular origin. During the season I used food mixes from several brands, and the training consisted of intense training around the loft, without taking them by car”, said Ilie Lupu.

Ovidiu Pietraru wins first place in fanciers competition

As mentioned before, Ovidiu Pietraru is the fancier that, for the same race, won the first place in fanciers competition. He approached the National Tokmak competition with a team of 13 pigeons, of which he managed to rank seven of them, more than half. His first pigeon from the team, a 3-year-old cock, placed second on the launch. He was followed by another pigeon from the team, this time a hen bred in 2016, which ranked 56th in the competition. Together, these two pigeons accumulated a total of 5.44 penalty points and brought Ovidiu Pietraru the 1st place Tokmak National Fanciers 2020. “I have been competing since 2008, and most of my pigeons come from Adrian Tănase. I compete using the natural method, and every year I keep between 15 and a little over 20 pigeons. I chose the two pigeons to be part of the team, because they have very good origins and showed all the signs specific to be capable of a good performance. Preparation for the National Tokmak began with a rigorous treatment against respiratory problems and continued with a hearty meal, so that the pigeons get as much of what they need from food. They also participated for the short distance race organized before boarding for the marathon”, explained Ovidiu Pietraru.

Regarding the county rankings, you can check the following info:

Dolj: 2,628 pigeons / 174 fanciers; 1st place pigeons and fanciers: Florin Iancu;

Gorj: 730 pigeons / 84 fanciers; 1st place pigeons and fanciers: Diță and Raul Catanoiu;

Mehedinti: 1,276 pigeons / 125 fanciers; 1st place pigeons: Mihai Vulpasin; 1st place fanciers: Cosmin Frățilescu;

Olt: 2,568 pigeons / 205 fanciers: 1st place pigeons: Claudiu Iancu; 1st place fanciers: Costin Brezoi;

Vâlcea: 1,069 pigeons / 96 fanciers; 1st place pigeons: Silviu Tătuț + Biță; 1st place fanciers: Team Catrinescu.