A week to
remember...
 This
year's IFCS World Agility Championships were held in the town of Bourgbarré,
France from the 1st - 5th 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 with a mix of heights, jumping 250, 300, 400, 500 and 600. Amy
Bennett and World Champion Neva were there to defend their title.
The Team GB travelled over to
France and met up for training on Monday and Tuesday, giving the dogs and
handlers time to acclimatise to the arena surface and equipment prior to the
competition which was starting on Wednesday, The team was looking amazing and
everyone was looking forward to the opening ceremony.
 Wednesday
The afternoon started with
the opening ceremony when the host introduced all the countries. Then it was
straight into Biathlon Agility. Team GB put in some incredible runs and so it
felt as if the competition had really begun. Many of our team members finished in
the top 10, giving them great potential for the second Biathlon
round at the end of the week.
The Snooker course was
testing. It was set to achieve good opening points and allow maximum closing
points in the time allocated. The support the team showed for each other was
great, and the tactics led to our first lot of medals. It was an incredible
start for the handlers and the team!
Onto the afternoon and the
start of the Team events, which consisted of teams of three running over an
Individual Agility course. We put forward five teams and they really showed what
GB was made of.
-
Sid Gates with Dex running the fastest
time in the 300 height
-
Dawn Weaver with Vegas running the
fastest time in the 400 height
-
Toni Smith with Febe running the fastest
time in the 500 height
What a great achievement
it was for our teams!
Friday
 Individual
day started with an Agility round in the morning. It was an incredibly fast and
clever course which saw lots of amazing dogs showing exceptional skills. GB
cleaned up with three Golds and a Bronze, making our team so proud.
-
Helen Roberts with Popsie taking Bronze
in the 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
In the afternoon, there
was an Individual Jumping round with another fast and furious course that
required a high level of skill to get you round.
While there were lots of
Es, taking out some very cool partnerships, once again GB performed well and
came away with some great results.
-
Amy Bennett with Neva taking Gold in the
250 height
-
Martin Tait with Tally taking Silver in
the 300 height
-
Mark De Dussen with Skadi taking Gold in
the 500 height
What a triumph!
 Saturday
This was Gamblers day and
the team was ready with lots of talk about tactics. Lots of team members had
planned courses 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
It was an incredible
achievement by all!
The Team Jumping was next
in the afternoon with a very tricky course which caught out lots of teams. It
was relentless and watching dog after dog trying so hard was exhausting. Team GB
put in some great runs and came away with some top 10 placings over the five
heights and putting one of our teams into a high placing after two rounds.
 Sunday
The last day of
competition started with the Biathlon Jumping final, another fast and testing
but fun course. GB took it in our stride. The support shown for everyone kept
spirits and energy high on the last day. It was uplifting.
We were all 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.
Then onto the Team relay
which was a lot of fun. GB had one team in a very high place and we had high
hopes but unfortunately it was not meant to be. All the dogs in the Teams,
however, looked very cool out there showing what they were made of.
The competition finished
off with the all the results from both Games classes and the Individual Jumping
and Agility rounds being combined. We were ecstatic to see Team 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 put in over the week. Whether they took
a medal home or not, they all showed they totally deserved to be on the team and
they represented GB with great pride.
 Thank
you
Massive thanks have to go
to Team Manager Dawn Weaver and Team Coach Dave Russell for 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 huge thank you to
Ceri Jones for all her work behind the scenes and for making the team suited and
booted and looking incredible in the team kit. And to my teammates, thanks 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 credits:
Various members of the team
First published 15th
June 2024
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