The pandemic has greatly delayed the Columbophile Olympics, originally scheduled for 2020. As it is known, the organization of the event is the responsibility of our country and, even if the program is long overdue, the Racing pigeon olympiad will be held in Romania, in Oradea, during August. Although normally only one batch of pigeons participates in each edition of the Olympics, this time we will have two batches on display, related to the seasons 2019-2020 and 2020-2021. For more details, you can access the website https://www.olympiad.ro/

The fact that we are talking about two batches of Olympic pigeons, we considered to be a good opportunity to make if not a statistic, at least a comparative exposition, to see how the performance was “divided” into zones in the two mentioned seasons. Therefore, for a real comparison, we will analyze in parallel each of the Olympic categories.

Speed and Middle distance: Vâlcea county is at the top

Strava Ionuţ (Strava family)

We start with the first of the categories of the Olympics, category A, on the understanding of all Speed Palmares. After the 2019-2020 seasons, the three Romanian pigeon fanciers who will represent our country in the Olympics are Iulian Anghel, Constantin F. + Ivănescu I., both from Argeș, and Strava family , from Brașov. On the other side, the three winners of the category after the last competition season are George Vochin (Dolj), Marian Matei (Giurgiu) and George Tîlvâc (Vâlcea). Therefore, we can observe that, for the most part, they are pigeon fanciers from the province of Oltenia, and only one presence from Transylvania. However, there are no representatives from associations with a tradition for such races, such as Prahova or Bucharest, not to mention the Western area or Moldova, where we know that there is no attraction to this category. In the B-Middle distance Palmares category, the six pigeon fanciers who will participate in the Olympics are: Constantin Stoica (Vâlcea), Strava family (Brașov) and Șerban Tomiță (Ialomița), group 2019-2020, and Team Police (Vâlcea), Manole Victoraș + Răzvan (Dâmbovița) and Olteanu Cosmin (Prahova), pigeon fanciers who are part of the second group of Olympians. The first aspect that stands out is the constant presence of pigeon fanciers from Vâlcea County. At both Speed palmares and Middle distance palmares, Vâlcea county has at least one Olympic fancier, which is a real proof of value. It is also worth noting the consistency of the Strava family, which owns two Olympic pigeons, one for each group.

Long distance Olympics

Romanian Olympians in this category, according to the results from 2019-2020, are Vicențiu Scripcaru, from Galați, Vali Tudor, from Vâlcea, and Lucian Bercea, from Constanța. On the other hand, in the last season the areas of origin of the champions have changed quite a lot. Thus, in 2020-2021, the Olympians are Team Tănase + Rusu, from Timiș, Alexandru Sorescu, from Buzău, and Cristi Lemnaru, from Olt. A new category, but two presences for pigeon fanciers from the province of Oltenia, which, so far, is a real constant of the Olympic categories.

Marathon Palmares

Ivanciu Brothers

Moving on to the category with the longest distances, Marathon Palmares, we find pigeon fanciers who really specialize in this type of stage. The group of Olympians after the 2019-2020 seasons includes the Ivanciu Brothers, from Vrancea, Iulian Mălinche, from Brăila, and George Vochin, from Dolj. They handed over the relay two seasons later to fanciers Emil Nedea, from Argeș, Dan Vasile, from Cluj, and Frații Aparaschiva, from Suceava. In total, there are six attendances from as many associations, and speaking about geographical areas, Olympic pigeon fanciers in this category come from Moldova, Oltenia, Muntenia and even Transylvania, thanks to Dan Vasile, who already reached the third presence in the pigeon fancier Olympics at the same category.

Category D-Allround Palmares

Perhaps the most complex of the Olympic categories is category D or Allround Palmares. Here, after the 2019 and 2020 seasons, we find a completely new situation. The 1st and 3rd places in the Olympic group are occupied by pigeon fanciers from Dolj, respectively Adrian Cîrciumaru and the team Poenaru + Călin. They “frame” Vali Tudor from Vâlcea and, in this way, they bring a very good reference to Oltenia province and to Dolj county implicitly. Also from Oltenia are the Olympians of the category from the 2020-2021 group. The Poenaru + Călin team occupies the first place this time, followed by the Gorj team Țîrvuloiu and Popescu, and the third place is occupied by George Vochin. So, four of the six Olympians in the D-Allround Palmares category are from Dolj County, at least for now, the county with the most Olympians. At the same time, the presence of the team of Țîrvuloiu and Popescu 2 is to be appreciated, which brings Gorj the first inclusion on the short list of participants in the Olympics.

Categories F, G, H, I

Cosmin Olteanu

In addition to the categories mentioned so far, the national ranking also includes four categories specially organized for participation in the Olympics. The first of these is category F and is specifically dedicated to youngsters, which must rank at least three stages. On this criterion, the Olympians of the category for the 2019-2020 season are the team Călin + Buzura, from Dolj, and Matei Enescu and Cosmin Cojanu from Prahova. The group 2020-2021 includes Nicolae-Valentin Staicu, from Prahova, Damian Drăgoiu, from Brașov, and the team Romulus Nedelcu + Cosmin Cojanu, also from Prahova. Therefore, Prahova is the association that dominates this category, with four Olympic pigeon fanciers out of six possible. Last but not least, we see that Brașov has a new Olympic in the short stages, and Dolj County is not missing this time either.
Category G is dedicated to yearlings and involves rankings of at least five stages, not including marathon. The group of Olympians after the 2019-2020 seasons in this category looks like this: Pop Alin + Nadia + Tot Nicu (Maramureș), Team F.P.G. (Constanța) and Cosmin Olteanu (Prahova). As well, Cosmin Olteanu opens the list of Olympics after the 2020-2021 seasons, being followed by two pigeon fanciers from Arad, Călin-Andrei Nițui and Viorel Slăniceanu. Therefore, the West province quickly returns to the top, with three Olympians in this category, and Cosmin Olteanu, through the two counted appearances, becomes the pigeon fancier with the most Olympic pigeons at national level. He is matched only by Răzvan Călin from Dolj, who also has three Olympic pigeons, but competed for two titles.

Liviu Vieru

Only old birds are included in category H, which, unlike yearlings, must rank for six races in the first three distance categories. Marius Floștoiu, from Prahova, Cosmin Carciuc and Lucian Bercea, both from Constanța, make up the Olympic team of the category, after the 2019-2020 seasons. Liviu Vieru, from Olt, has two Olympic pigeons in the 2020-2021 group, and the last place is occupied by Florin-Alin Stroe from Prahova. It is very easy to see that the associations Prahova, Contanța and Olt produced the Olympic category for both groups, with the specification that the Olt association is represented only by Liviu Vieru. The last of these categories is category I, where yearlings and old birds classify together for races of over 500 km. The team Nica Gabriel + Haiducu Robert, from Olt, Florin Petrache, from Neamț, and Mihai Ungureanu, from Prahova, are the Olympians from the 2019-2020 seasons, followed, after the 2020-2021 seasons, by Marius Otea, from Gorj, Cătălin Nițu, from Olt, and the team Radu Gabriel + Leu Daniel, from Constanța.

The first and main conclusion we can draw from this presentation is that there are certain counties from which most Olympians come, regardless of category. For example, we have six Olympic pigeons from Prahova, and five Olympic pigeons come from the Olt, Contanța, and Vâlcea Associations. Dolj County is, however, the association with the most Olympians, no less than seven, with appearances in almost all categories (Speed, Allround, Marathon, F). The rest of the provinces delivered one or a maximum of two Olympians, in both groups of our country. Regarding the competition distances, it is obvious that Prahova, Vâlcea and Dolj counties dominate the categories with short stages and those dedicated to the youngsters, while Olt and Constanța have Olympic pigeons in the Long distance category. Instead, the Marathon has Olympians from all geographical areas, from Moldova to the Western Province, but no county has more than one Olympic pigeon.