Tj & J. Elzinga winning 1. Nat. Hirson in Afd. 11 with grandson Olympic Jozef
Tjeerd and Jouke Elzinga from Harkema win the 1. National Grand Prix Hirson (388 km) in Section Friesland against 9,799 pigeons with a half Eijerkamp cock. A total of 19,120 pigeons were released in Hirson from Sections 10 and 11, and this blue cock was also the fastest of all, achieving a speed of 1447.470 m/min.
It was certainly a close finish, as the second-place winner was only 4 seconds behind this cock from the father-and-son duo Elzinga — a well-known name in Dutch pigeon racing — who now add yet another glorious victory to their already impressive record. The winner, NL24-4251035, was gifted, because of the theft, through Johan de Vries from IJsselmuiden, another top fancier from Section 8 who, just two weeks earlier, had brilliantly won 1st NPO Gien in Section 8. As a young bird, "Johan" won five prizes, including a 33. NPO Charleville (393 km) against 7,725 pigeons with a speed of 1,158 m/min. The winner, who is also named after the breeder of this winner Johan de Vries, was bred in IJsselmuiden from NL21-1669398NL21-1669398, a direct son of Olympic Jozef"Olympic Jozef" x Golden Manu"Golden Manu".
The "Jozef 398" was paired by Johan de Vries with a daughter of his foundation pair. Johan de Vries from IJsselmuiden has once again demonstrated his class in the 2025 pigeon racing season with impressive performances in various races and two weeks ago an impressive 1-3-6 NPO Gien in Section 8. His loft, built with pigeons from, among others, the late Henri van den Berg, includes top breeders such as "Olympic Nicole" and the foundation pair 'Havik' x '909 Nicole', which run like a red thread through his colony.
