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Who are we. Team GB.
 This
year's IFCS World Agility Championships were held in the town of Bourgbarré,
France from the 1st to the 5th of May. Thirteen countries were there to compete
over the five days in Individual and Team events. Great Britain took a team of
30 dogs and handlers from a mix of heights, jumping 250, 300, 400, 500 and 600.
Amy Bennett and Neva were there to defend their 2023 Gold.
The team travelled over to France and met up for team training on
Monday and Tuesday when the dogs and handlers had time to acclimatise themselves
to the arena surface and equipment prior to the competition which was starting
on the Wednesday. The team was looking amazing, and everyone was excited for the
opening ceremony and the competition to start.
 Wednesday
The
afternoon started with the opening ceremony when the host
introduced all the countries and welcomed them to the competition. Then
it was straight onto the first run of the competition which was Biathlon
Agility. Team GB put in some incredible runs and so the start of the
competition really began with many of the team finishing in top 10
placing giving them great potential for the second Biathlon round at the
end of the week.
Thursday
The Snooker course was testing, set to achieve good
opening points and succeed the closing points in the time allocated. The
support and tactics the team showed for each other were great and this
led to our first lot of medals. An incredible achievement for them and
the team!
-
Claire Chappell with Link taking Bronze in the 400
height
-
Helen Roberts with Popsie taking Bronze in the 250
height
Onto the afternoon and the start of the Team events. This
consists of a team of three competing over an individual agility run. GB
put forward 5 teams to compete over the agility course and they really
showed what GB was made of.
-
Dawn Weaver with Vegas running the fastest time in
the 400 height
-
Toni
Smith with
Febe running the fastest time in 500 height
-
Sid
Gates with
Dex running the fastest time in 300 height
What a great start for the Teams!
 Friday
Individual day starting with the Agility round in the morning. It was an
incredibly fast and clever course which saw lots of amazing dogs doing
exceptional skills and GB cleaning up, making the team so proud.
-
Helen Roberts
with
Popsie taking Bronze in 250 height
-
Louise
Godwin with
Drift taking Gold in 300 height
-
Dawn Weaver
with
Vegas taking Gold in 400 height
-
Lindsay Spring with Bam taking Gold in 500 height.
Onto the individual jumping round in the afternoon with
another fast and furious course with a high level of skills needed to
get you round. There were lots of Es, taking out some very cool
partnerships for all countries, but once again GB performed and came
away with some great results.
-
Amy Bennett
with
Neva taking Gold in the 250 height
-
Martin
Tait with
Tatty taking Silver in the 300 height
-
Mark Den Dussen with Skadi taking Gold in the 500
height
 What a triumph!
Saturday
This was Gamblers day and
the team was ready for tactics and course planning. Lots of different
courses had been planned by the members of the team which they shared
with each other. This paid off as the team again took medals in this
round.
-
Amy Bennett
with Neva taking Silver in the 250 height
-
Louise
Godwin with
drift taking Gold in the 300 height
-
Martin Tait
with
Tatty taking Silver in the 300 height
-
Toni
Smith with
Febe taking Bronze in the 500 height
An incredible achievement by all!
The
Team Jumping was next in the afternoon with a very tricky course
catching out lots of teams. It was relentless, and exhausting watching
dog after dog trying so hard. Team GB put in some great runs and came
away with some top 10 placings over the five heights, putting one of our
teams in a high placing after two rounds.
 Sunday
This was the last day of competition. It started with the
Biathlon Jumping final, another fast but fun and testing course. GB took
it in our stride. The support shown by everyone to keep spirits and
energy high on the last day was uplifting. We were all so pleased to see
Sid and Dex take the pressure and shine on their way to Gold Overall. It
was such an incredible achievement, and everyone was proud of them.
Onto the team relay final which was so much fun, and GB
had one team in a very high placing after two rounds. It was all down to
the relay. Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be but all the dogs in the
teams looked very cool out there showing what they were made of.
The week was finished off with the all-around results.
Results taken from both games classes and the individual jumping and
agility round. We were ecstatic to see GB with their well -earned spots
on the podium.
-
Helen Roberts with Popsie taking Silver in the 250
height
-
Becky Foster with Bindy taking Silver in the 400
height
-
Stuart Doughty with Riggs taking Silver in the 600
height
- Overall results
This GB team showed so much support and care for each
other, willing and pushing each other to achieve, picking each other
up when we were down and giving the pep talks we needed to get on
track before every run. The team spirit really showed in the
results.
GB came home with 17 medals in total.
-
 Gold - 7
-
Silver - 6
-
Bronze - 4
I couldn't be prouder of my team mates for all the
hard work they did over the week. Whether they took medal home or
not, they all showed they totally deserved to be on the team and
represented GB with great pride.
 Thank you
Massive thanks have to go to Team Manager Dawn Weaver and Team Coach
Dave Russell for the organising and planning and for keeping us all
informed and motivated throughout the week. Without them, the team would
not have been possible.
Also a massive thank you to Ceri Jones for all the behind
the scenes work she does and for making sure the team was suited and
booted and looking incredible in team kit. And finally. Thank you to my
team mates for making it a week to remember.
One last time. 'Who are we? Team GB.'
About the
author
Amy Bennett runs Wild
Thing Dogs Training in Buckinghamshire.
Photo credit: Various
IFCS team members
First published 17th June
2024
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