The world championship consists of several days. “I was there myself from Monday, in my holiday home,” says Overtoom. “Your dog will be checked and you can start training. Wednesday was the opening ceremony and Friday I had to walk an individual part.”
Only the best come to a world championship, but she noticed during the round on Friday that it was good. “The round was unparalleled. But you are at a World Cup, where all dogs are good. There were ten dogs after me, that was a bit of a squeeze.”
And even if the last dog is inside, you won’t know for sure. “I was first in the standings. Only everything is filmed,” she explains. “After all participants have been, all images are viewed. The referee can of course also miss something.” Finally came the redeeming word. “I couldn’t realize it. My team was euphoric and everyone went to hug me.”
Overtoom trains with multiple dogs. She herself has three border collies, but she became champion with More, her best friend’s dog. “She had to make a choice physically and in terms of time not to continue with this sport. Then I started running with More and we immediately had a very good click. Well, the rest speaks for itself,” laughs Overtoom.
But what next? Because winning a World Cup on your thirtieth birthday, then you might not have many goals left? “I would like to run a World Cup with my own dog anyway. There are also many other international competitions that I would like to participate in. And then equal this achievement.”