Flyball team, Roadrunners Beep Beep, took the top prize on Sunday 12 March, winning the flyball final at the world’s greatest dog show, Crufts.
Roadrunners Beep Beep is made up of dogs and handlers from Belgium. The team impressed the crowd at the Birmingham NEC with their speed and set a new Crufts flyball record of 14.27 seconds. The previous Crufts record was 14.71 seconds, set by Roadrunners Beep Beep at Crufts in 2022.
The team beat off competition from 15 other top flyball teams to win the exciting final at Crufts, which was sponsored by Royal Canin. These teams competed in eight qualifiers held at a range of shows during 2022 for the chance to make it to the 'grand prix' of GB flyball at Crufts.
The winning team consisted of six dogs: Sepp, Box loader, Sansa, Kayom, Veto, Datrum, and their owners: Dave Maris, Foy Mooyakkers, Didier Vanderheyden, Elke Kaaps, Gert Jamlemmens, Styn Boonen and Toom Milissen.
Team captain, Toom Milissen, said of the teams win: “It feels great to win again! Crufts is always very difficult to perform in - one mistake or one little bit of bad luck and the competition is over, but to win feels great.
“We’ve broken the Crufts record – that’s now the third or fourth time we’ve broken it this weekend, so we’ll have to count!
“It’s one-of-a-kind to compete in this team – we started the team in 2014 and handpicked the people who wanted to work and have the same mindset. You have to find a group of people who work well together, and we’re very happy with where we are right now.”
Vanessa McAlpine, Crufts Show Manager, said: “The Roadrunners Beep Beep put on an incredible and exciting show in the arena for all the crowd and a huge congratulations to all of the dogs and owners in the team in securing their win. Their teamwork and passion for flyball was evident throughout and we want to wish them the best of luck in following competitions and future Crufts to come!”
Crufts took place from 9-12 March 2023 at the NEC, Birmingham. For more information and results from the show, visit the Crufts website.