For the province of Moldova the most important marathon race of the season is Birzai Naționa, for pigeon fanciers from Wess it’s Berlin Național, and, no doubt, for pigeon fanciers from Oltenia and Muntenia the most important race of the season is Izium Național. In the season that has just ended, the competition reached historical participation figures, being the race with the highest number of participating pigeon fanciers that has ever been organized in our country. And if it was not obvious until now that such a stage can be won by any participant, from any county, the 2021 edition of the “Southern final” is yet another proof.

In the four years since this stage was organized, Izium Național has had an increasing number of participating pigeon fanciers and pigeons. The number of pigeons (15,345) that were engaged this year is the highest since the inauguration of this competition, but what is a real record is the number of participating pigeon fanciers: 1,839. At least in the recent history of racing pigeon sport from Romania, no other race has been organized in which as many pigeon-fanciers participants.

George Băciucu (VL) is the happy winner of the first place

The pigeons engaged at Izium Național 2021 were released on the morning of July 30, at 05:30, with distances, depending on the areas, from 800 to over 1,200 km. The heat was added to the very long distances, on the day of launch they had to withstand temperatures of almost 40 degrees. For these reasons, the first day of the competition ended with only eight pigeons arriving in their lofts, extending the competition to the next day and increasing the chances of winning for all participants. This time, luck was on George Băciucu’s side, from Vâlcea, who had a very good arrival and who propelled him directly to the top of the ranking. In her loft, the next morning at 06:01:29, the female 1006544/2019 arrived. She had to fly 1,078 km, a distance she covered with an average speed of 1082.62 m / min, which means that she covered most of these km on the first day of the competition. In any case, her performance was a fantastic one and, overtaking 15,344 pigeons, she became the new winner of the most important stage in Southern Romania. “At the age of one, the female competed only in the long stages, this year going to the marathon for the first time. In the first two marathon stages of the season, the pigeons were widowed, but for Izium, I left them in the wild, embarking on eggs for 7-8 days. I used food from Versele Laga, Gerry and Superstar mixes, and for the training, the pigeons were taken to several 50 km training sessions, from where I launched them mainly in the evening. The female comes from the pigeons I have been competing with for many years, with good results in the distance stages. I think he was very well motivated, because he had eggs in the wrong place and I had to improvise a box for him. She also arrived very well at the National Tokmak stage, on the evening of the first day of the competition, but I didn’t take her into account. When I saw that very few pigeons entered Izium on the first day, I thought that it would be many hours before the pigeons arrived in our area. I was in bed when the hen arrived, and when I heard the sound of the clock, I couldn’t believe it. I can say that I lived very beautiful moments “, said George Băciucu. Apart from the fact that he won the first place on the general ranking, it must be remembered that Daniel Băciucu, out of 15 engaged pigeons, ranked 11th, occupying the 26th place in fanciers competition.

Cristian Brumușescu (OT) has an exceptional performance: 2nd and 3rd places at launch and first place in fanciers competition

The winner of the ranking with the most participating pigeon fanciers ever is Cristian Brumușescu, from the Olt Pigeon Association. Besides the fact that it occupies the 1st place out of 1,839 pigeon fanciers from 15 associations, in the pigeons ranking, Cristian Brumușescu ranks 2nd and 3rd on the launch, which makes Izium Național 2021 one of the best stages of the Oltenian pigeon fancier of his career. Winning first place in fanciers out of over 1,800 participants, with only 0.33 penalty points, and 2nd and 3rd places out of 15,345 pigeons is, by far, a “framed” performance. The two exceptional arrivals were the “work” of the cocks 0491242/2019 and 0653344/2019, half-brothers, who, from a distance of 1,103 km, arrived the next morning, at 07:30 and 07:31. Basically, the two pigeons arrived at the same time, being differentiated by only a few seconds. “I have been competing since 2010 and I am only interested in the long distance and marathon stages. I compete with the widow pigeons, being separated after the first long distance race, and everyone, including the young ones, go to the marathon stages. For Izium, the pigeons were trained with three 70 km training sessions, and in terms of food, I only gave them Energy Plus from Versele Laga in the last four days. I put the two of them on the team because I knew them very well. They are half-brothers, and another half-brother of them was the 1st county place in the Ace Marathon Yearlings category in 2018. The cock on the second place on the launch also won the first stage of the season, in which 19,008 pigeons participated, and in the marathon he has the norm ended with 0.40 hundredths. The second cock also has a very good score in the Ace Marathon category and was a team pigeon all season “, said Cristian Brumușescu. In total, the pigeon fancier from Oltenia ranked 15 pigeons out of 18 engaged.

Top county rankings:

Dolj: Cosmin Terpu, 1st place pigeons (2,253); Niță-Cristinel Găinaru, place 1 fanciers (224)

Olt: Cristian Brumușescu, 1st place pigeons and fanciers (3,131 / 287)

Gorj: Daniel Roncioiu, 1st place pigeons (865); Tandem Telescu + Bujorescu (144)

Argeș: Manea Dumitru + Manea Dănuț tandem, 1st place for pigeons (2,196); Ilie Stan, 1st place fanciers (257)

Mehedinti: Nicușor Breazu, 1st place pigeons (1,214); Aurel Cozma, place 1 fanciers (180)

Dâmbovița: Frații Gheorghe + Luca, 1st place pigeons (1,317); Team T., 1st place fanciers (122)

Vâlcea: Eugen Dinu, place 1 fanciers (105)

Prahova: Stroescu Claudiu + Mihăilescu Mihai, 1st place pigeons and fanciers (1,487 pigeons and 258 fanciers)

Bucharest: Florin Radu, 1st place pigeons (1,233); Marius Rudaru, place 1 fanciers (148)