Record speed of 177km/h.

These days Pigeon Fancier Societies have seasonal shows where proud owners parade their pigeons who are judged on poise, tail, crest, size, feather texture and colour. There are certian rules in competition such as the Pigeon can't shake it's neck while being judged. I imagine that would be a real challenge for this prehistoric bird.

Here are some facts to show pigeons have been used for than just show:
The Egyptians and the Persians used carrier pigeons 3,000 years ago. They also were used to proclaim the winner of the Olympics. Messenger pigeons were used as early as 1150 in Baghdad and also later by Genghis Khan.
The homing pigeon is a variety of domestic pigeon derived from the Rock Pigeon selectively bred to find its way home over extremely long distances.The wild rock pigeon has an innate homing ability, meaning that it will generally return to its own nest and its own mate. This made it relatively easy to breed from the birds that repeatedly found their way home over long distances. Flights as long as 1800 km (1,118 miles) have been recorded by birds in competition pigeon racing. Their average flying speed over moderate distances 500 miles is around 80 km/h (50 mph), but speeds of up to 177 km/h (110 mph) have been observed in top racers for short distance 100 miles.
Lifted from Wikipedia. I love it.