Athens National (Pyrgos) – Another Remarkable Marathon Race

Last weekend, on July 12, the second long-distance race of the season took place on the Bulgaria-Greece route, symbolically named "Athens National 2025". Although the pigeons were released from the Greek town of Pyrgos, the event carried this title as it marked the first national stage on this route for the current racing season. Just like the first stage, this edition delivered spectacular arrivals that kept fanciers on edge.

Record Participation and High Emotions

A total of 1,081 fanciers from the Muntenia and Oltenia provinces participated, representing nine pigeon racing branches. From Oltenia: 163 participants from Gorj, 102 from Mehedinți, 81 from Vâlcea, 99 from Dolj, and 96 from Olt. Muntenia was represented by 231 fanciers from Prahova, 233 from Argeș, and 75 from Dâmbovița. Altogether, 6,866 pigeons were entered and released on the morning of July 12, at 6:50 AM.

Another Victory for Gorj: Vasile Struț Wins the Pigeon Category

Athens National covered the largest geographical area so far, with flying distances ranging from 700 km (Dolj) to over 900 km (Prahova). Unlike the first marathon stage on this route, which saw only 75 pigeons return on the first day, this time many more returned, and with higher speeds—making the event a great success on one of the toughest pigeon racing routes in Romania.

The first arrival was recorded by Ionuț Iovan from Dolj at 4:57:58 PM, over a 706 km distance. However, since his loft was among the closest, the overall win was expected to go to a fancier with a longer distance. Indeed, the stage was won by Vasile Struț from Peșteana Jiu (Gorj). His young cock, RO-2024-0653026, arrived after flying 814 km, clocking in at 6:30:13 PM, with an average speed of 1,163.32 m/min.

Ionuț Oprișe Shines Again – This Time as Best Fanciers

Three weeks ago, Ionuț Oprișe from Târgu Jiu (Gorj) won first place in the individual pigeon category during the first Pyrgos marathon. At Athens National, he struck again, this time topping the loft (fancier) ranking. His first arrival was the hen RO-2023-0250367, clocking in at 7:00:40 PM and placing 5th overall after covering 837 km. Seventeen minutes later, his second bird, cock RO-2023-0250344, placed 15th overall. With a combined penalty score of just 2.92 points, Oprișe achieved the best loft performance of the entire event.

County Rankings – Top Performers by Region

Mehedinți

– Pigeons: Cătălin Grigore with hen RO-2024-0690226 (783 km, 6:40:07 PM, 31st overall)

– Fanciers: Claudiu Lupșa (11th overall)

Dolj

– Pigeons: Ionuț Iovan with RO-2023-0164430 (2nd overall)

– Fanciers: Vasile Croitoru (Segarcea)

Olt

– Pigeons: Team Stroe George & Stancu Ion (Caracal) with RO-2024-1029092 (758 km, 6:10:25 PM, 21st overall)

– Fanciers: Cristian Brumușescu (Schitu, 42nd overall)

Vâlcea

– Pigeons: George Băciucu (Râureni) with cock RO-2023-2002503 (856 km, 7:26:37 PM, 9th overall)

– Fanciers: Tiberius Huluba (Râmnicu Vâlcea, 5th overall)

Prahova

– Pigeons: Daniel Năstăsescu (Vălenii de Munte) with hen RO-2023-0980147 (923 km, 8:16:01 PM, 6th overall)

– Fanciers: Team Dogaru Kevin + Ghioarcă (Breaza, 48th overall)

Dâmbovița

– Pigeons: Lucian Dumitru (Găești) with RO-2024-1105847 (849 km, 7:15:31 PM, 8th overall)

– Fanciers: Cristinel Mîndrican (Crângurile, 30th overall)

Argeș

– Pigeons: Team Alexe C. + Andrei I. (Bradu) with hen RO-2023-2012581 (844 km, 7:08:45 PM, 7th overall)

– Fanciers: Ilie Stan (Pitești, 3rd overall).