While Europe is counting down the days to the Barcelona International and the Canary Islands are hosting the Parra Negra final, in southern Africa, one of the most generous one-loft races on the world calendar takes place every year: the Victoria Falls World Challenge Pigeon Race in Zimbabwe. The final of the 2026 edition was run on June 12th, and the results confirm why this race has been attracting the attention of breeders from around the world for years.
591 kilometers from Nyamapanda
Race 10, the season finale, was released at 6:30 a.m. on June 12 from Nyamapanda, 591 km from the Victoria Falls loft. The day dawned with clear skies and a light or calm headwind throughout the race, with a maximum temperature of 25°C and relative humidity between 30% and 40%, demanding but stable conditions for a long-distance race.
The first pigeon arrived at 3:10 PM, after 8 hours and 40 minutes of flight, with a speed of 1,136 meters per minute and a 15-minute lead over the rest of the flock. Only 27 prize pigeons arrived that first day; the vast majority of the field entered during the morning of the second day.
A final that ended quickly
Of the 1,611 pigeons entered in this final race, 880 finished within the race time before the close of Day 2, representing 54.6% of the total. The 300 prize-winning positions, worth $572,000 , were filled by 9:28 a.m. on the second day. This figure illustrates the pressure both the pigeons and their owners face: in a race of this format, a delay of just a few minutes can mean the difference between winning a six-figure prize and being left out of the running.
The list of winners of the final
First place went to Guenter Goetz (Germany), with the ringed pigeon ZA010 , which won $100,000. He was followed by Martin Hetzel , also German, with DV 07564-25-329 and a prize of $60,000; the same Hetzel pigeon also tops the Grand Average ranking for the entire 2026 season, confirming the consistency of its performance throughout the various preliminary races. Third place went to Precious Loft TFA, from the Philippines, with PHIL 25-88810, awarded $40,000.
- 1st Guenter Goetz (Germany), ZA010, $100,000
- 2nd Martin Hetzel (Germany), DV 07564-25-329, $60,000
- 3rd Precious Loft TFA (Philippines), PHIL 25-88810, $40,000
Among the next positions in the top 20 are breeders from the Netherlands, Kuwait, Belgium, South Africa, Romania, Zimbabwe and Qatar, a mix that gives an idea of the international reach of this test: the pigeons are trained and flown in African conditions, but those who register and breed them come from all continents.
Why is this career of interest outside of Africa?
The one loft race format eliminates the variable of having your own loft: all the pigeons live, train, and compete from the same facilities at Victoria Falls, leveling the playing field and leaving the result almost entirely dependent on genetics and the birds' prior preparation. It's the same principle behind derbies like the Parra Negra Canarias or the FCI Costa del Sol International, but with a prize fund that places Victoria Falls among the highest-paying races in the world.
For a breeder who chooses this approach, it's common to send pigeons from lines with proven track records in long-distance races or heat and orientation trials. A result like Hetzel's or Goetz's, repeated in consecutive finals, usually generates immediate interest in their breeding lines for the following auction season.
If you track your own pigeons' results in races like this or any other competition, it's best to record the data immediately, before it's lost over time. With FirePedigree, you can register each race result linked to the bird's pedigree, so its performance history is documented just like any other technical record.
Source: Victoria Falls World Challenge Pigeon Race: Final Race Report & Prize Money
