BISHOPSTEIGNON pigeon fanciers are flying high after scooping the top award at the Pigeon Olympics. Mike and Pauline Steer won top cock with a 12 month-old bird. A Somerset couple won the top hen, bred by Mr Spear. The Great Britain team were joint overall winners with Poland in the 30th Pigeon Olympiad, held in Ostend, Belgium, last month. The GB team have not won the event – this year with competitors from 15 countries – since 1964. Having two gold medal winners is also a first for the team. Ten birds were selected for the prestigious event at the Old Comrades Show, Telford, in December. Five of the birds were bred by Mr Spear in the loft at his home. His other birds gained fourth, fifth and 10th place in the competition. Mr Spear said: 'To be selected for the Great Britain team is a great honour, but to come here and beat all the other entries for best cock in the Olympiad is out of this world. I haven't come down to earth yet.' Mr Spear has been racing pigeons since 1965. His main interest is pigeon racing for distances from 60 to more than 500 miles. He is a regular judge at Cornish shows and has had the honour of judging in Blackpool. Mr and Mrs Spear showed for the first time last year at the British Homing World Show in Blackpool. They scooped the prize for the best racing pigeon. Royal Pigeon Racing Association president Pat Mitchell praised the team's efforts: 'To win joint first place is one mighty achievement, but to scoop the top two pigeons is miraculous.'