Elite lumberjacks from all over the world will gather in Germany this weekend for the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® World Championships - the international season finals of the top-class lumber sports series. Among them a team from Great Britain will battle for Individual and Team honours on a glittering stage in front of an expected 10,000 spectators in the Porsche Arena, Stuttgart.
Over 100 athletes from more than 20 nations will compete for honours with axes and saws in the Team World Championships on this evening (Friday 25th October), with the Individual Championship finals taking place on Saturday night.
World Nation's Cup Team Event : Friday 25 October
In Friday's team event, four Great British athletes will be among more than 100 of the best from Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the USA, competing in a knock-out to find the World's No. 1 team. A restricted four STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® disciplines are tackled in the Team Event: the Stock Saw, Underhand Chop, Single Buck and Standing Block chop. Each competitor in a team completes just one discipline of the four, passing on to a team mate who takes on the next discipline relay-style.
GB Team : (l to r) Spike Milton, Chris Pratt, Andrew Evans, Robert Chatley
Representing Great Britain in the Team Event, Spike Milton (Captain), Robert Chatley, Andrew Evans, Chris Pratt and Bill Huaki (Reserve), retain the places they earned in the team at last year's inaugural British Championship. They have proven themselves again among over twenty of the best of British lumberjack sportsmen attending STIHL's advanced training camps this year. Now each of the team members is honing their individual discipline skills: Spike Milton - Standing Block chop; Robert Chatley - Underhand Chop; Andrew Evans - Single Buck saw; Chris Pratt - Stock Saw; Bill Huaki - Reserve. Adding to the pressure and excitement of the fast-paced relay event, it is also a knock-out competition with two teams on the stage racing side-by-side to win.
Last year's World Championship Team bid ended at the quarter final stage when the GB team were drawn against the ultimate winners - the New Zealand Team. "Yes, you can suffer from the luck of the draw, but I'm confident we'll do well this year as the boys are all on top form", comments Spike Milton - GB Team Captain, who will round-off the relay with the Standing Block chop. "We've all been working incredibly hard to improve our strength and technique this year and as well as our formal training sessions each of us has been busy training in our own time. We as the British Team will be going to Stuttgart to be the best team in Europe and stamp our mark on the rest of the world", he adds confidently.
Commenting on this year's structured programme of formal training sessisons organised by STIHL and carried out by Spike in his role as an Official Trainer for STIHL TIMBERSPORTS®, he says: "I have been working exceptionally hard with the team this season and the guys are really starting to fire. The training will be stepped up again in the run-up to the Championships so we are serious contenders."
Individual World Championship
Promising a glittering finale to the World Championships this year, the Individual Championship trophy will be fought for on Saturday evening (26th October), again in the prestigious Porsche Arena. Here the world's top athletes will compete against one another in all six disciplines of the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® Series : Springboard, Stock Saw, Standing Block, Single Buck, Underhand Chop and the infamous Hot Saw. Points are earned according to the time achieved to complete each discipline and the competitor with the most points at the end of the event will lift the Individual World Champion's trophy.
Competing against Spike for the Individual Championship this year, more than 20 of the world's elite lumberjack sporting athletes will fly into Stuttgart from as far afield as New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the US. They will include literal giants of their sport like five-times Individual World Champion, New Zealand's Jason Wynyard, who stands nearly 2 metres tall and weighs around 130kg.
Will Britain's Spike Milton be able to fell the awesome New Zealander we ask? "That could be a little ambitious" says Spike during a break from one of his many hard training sessions. "There are some incredible wood choppers and saw men out there and the guys from the US and Australasia are particularly strong. But again, I'm not going there for the ride. I'm wearing the GB shirt and flying the flag for my country, so I will be aiming for the podium that's for sure", he adds.
Good luck to all
STIHL GB wishes good luck to Spike Milton and all in the GB team for the Championships this year. "They have been training really hard, they're a great group of guys, genuine sportsmen and a real credit to their sport," commented Sean Larter-Conway, Marketing Manager of STIHL GB. "I wish them clean cuts and good chopping", he concluded.
The STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® Series is now established as the top class in lumber sports, with the best athletes, the highest spectator numbers and the biggest media presence. As well as being watched live by some 10,000 people the 2012 World Championships in Lillehammer, Norway, were also seen by several million television viewers via media partner, Eurosport. The World Championships are also shown by a number of other TV stations around the world.
