Stephanie Mach: a look back at the FMBB World Championship in Bovolone 2024

For us Belgian Shepherd owners, the FMBB World Championship is a big event, and in this community the whole race week is regarded as a festival of sport. The organisers of this championship try to hold the races in a different country every year. The whole town gets involved, so word gets around, and people from the host country also come to the event from different regions. This year’s edition, held on 26–27 April 2024, took place in Bovolone, Italy.

The FMBB World Championship is a kind of dog Olympics, where the best racing teams of the year come from all over the world and compete in several different disciplines (IGP, mondioring, agility, obedience, canicross, bikejoring, herding, rescue work…). Antík and I had already raced at the FMBB World Championship once, in 2022 in Greece, and on a mountain trail we fought our way to 1st place and the title of world champions. It was a huge experience and a great joy for us! Later that same year I got pregnant, so we couldn’t compete in 2023, but that made me look forward all the more to our comeback together this year.

The FMBB race route

At the FMBB the route is always made up of two stages. The first stage is usually around 5 km long and is meant to test the pair’s endurance. The next day the 2nd stage is run: it is an out-and-out sprint, just 2 km long, and its aim is, of course, to test explosiveness and strength. The times from both days are added together, and the fastest overall time wins.

In Italy the organisers set the whole route in a town park, where it ran along the water. They wound the route so that it took in just about every kind of surface; it had sharp turns as well as long straights, and it also ran past lots of animals – the park had enclosures with fallow deer, peacocks, ducks and so on. All in all, as I walked the trail, I was really looking forward to the race day ahead. I felt it would suit Antík and me.

26 April: the first race day

The organiser got the starts going from 7 in the morning, which was perfect, because that way we avoided the higher temperatures that don’t suit dogs. Of course I was nervous as hell before the start, but at the same time I was looking forward to it. Ante, too, had been really looking forward to race day since the morning.

I made sure Ante was properly hydrated, and before the race I walked him and warmed him up. Then I went for a quick jog myself and did a warm-up and running drills to get my legs ready to perform. Before the start the tension was rising, and I couldn’t wait for us to set off and for the nerves to fall away.

3, 2, 1, GO… At last we were off, and all I focused on was keeping my legs turning over. After the first 2 km I realised we were running at a pace of 3:10 min/km, and I began to doubt a little whether I could hold that pace all the way to the end. So I decided to slow down a bit and play it safe. Ante was 100% focused and pulled beautifully the whole time. We managed to overtake several runners ahead of us. With the last 1 km to go, I could feel my legs burning, and Ante was starting to have had enough too. Still, I tried to encourage him and to pick up the pace once more at the end. The last 500 m before the finish – a long straight – and this is it! One last word of encouragement to Ante, who put the last of his strength into pulling; I tried to get my legs spinning for the finishing sprint too, and at last we crossed the finish line.

I was happy with our performance and our average of 3:21 min/km, although I had a feeling I could have squeezed more out of myself. In the end the route measured 4.5 km, and we did it in 15:19.37 minutes. Ante was one of the few dogs to reach the finish on a taut line. There was a bit of a wait for the results, and then I found out that after the first stage we had grabbed 2nd place! At last I could breathe out, and the worst of the stress finally fell away.

I told myself the main thing now was to try to hold on to second place. In the afternoon Antík and I also walked the short route for the second stage, and after that we just recovered until the second race day.

27 April: the second race day

On the second day I was a touch less nervous. I already knew where we stood, and when it came to sprints, I really believed in us. This time the start order followed the previous day’s results, so there was no longer any overtaking to worry about; it was more of a pursuit.

3, 2, 1, GO… We’re off, and straight away I’m turning my legs over at full revs, Ante flat out. Over 2 km I wasn’t afraid to give it everything, and I could afford to sprint the whole route. During the run there was no time to look at my watch, just focus and keep my legs turning at the maximum. We run into the finishing straight, and I urge Ante on once more to give everything to the last metres. We manage to speed up at the end, and once again we reach the finish as one of the few still pulling at full strength. Right at the finish I collapsed on the ground from exhaustion, but at the same time I was overjoyed. So overjoyed that I cried, moved by how well we had worked together.

I felt like a winner, and although we stayed in 2nd place, I value it like gold. We ran the 2 km in 5:59.92 minutes at a pace of 3:00 min/km, and we were just 4 s behind first place. I don’t regret a single thing about the second stage.

I know we squeezed the very best out of ourselves, and our road to this performance was truly hard-won. I feel huge gratitude and humility towards Ante, who has been showing what a top dog he is for several seasons now.

Thank you to the whole Farm Fresh team – thanks to you, Ante has a quality diet that gives him the energy and strength he needs for every run, and we’re really looking forward to the new season with you and to next year’s FMBB World Championship in Portugal!

More about Stephanie and Antaios on the Stephanie Mach page.