GB DELIGHT AT STIHL TIMBERSPORTS
Team comes 6th in the world
A thrilling STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® World Championship in Stuttgart culminated in Individual honours for Australia's Brad De Losa, and New Zealand becoming the World's No. 1 Team.
Held at the Porsche Arena, Stuttgart in front of sell-out crowd, the Individual Championship upset the odds when a legendary five-times World Champion failed to step on the podium. And it all came down to a photo-finish in the Team Championship relay, keeping another capacity crowd on the edge of their seats.
Great Britain performed brilliantly, with Spike Milton taking 10th in the Individual Championship, and the GB Team coming sixth in the World Team event - that was second of all the European teams.
Australia's Brad De Losa becomes Individual World Champion
The strongest of the 120 lumberjack athletes from 24 countries, all competing for honours at the World Championship this year was 34-year-old Brad De Losa from Australia, who claimed first place ahead of Matthew Cogar from the USA and Martin Komarek from the Czech Republic. Upsetting the odds, five-time World Champion, Jason Wynyard from New Zealand finished in fifth place.
Kiwis victorious in World Team event
New Zealand defended its title in the World Team event with a narrow victory over the USA. In front of another capacity crowd, the Kiwis kept their nerve and gave an outstanding performance in one of the closest ever finals to the relay events. Within just 51.74 seconds the four New Zealanders had transformed just as many timber blocks into firewood. But their win was certainly no easy task, and indeed the final came down to a photo-finish, with New Zealand a mere 62 hundredths of a second ahead of Team USA - a thrilling finale for the capacity crowd. Great Britain celebrates strong Championship results
Team GB - our own awesome foursome, finished sixth overall in the World Championship Team event, placing them a fantastic second among the European teams. Commenting, a clearly delighted GB Team Captain, Spike Milton said: "Our team excelled themselves. After a shaky start they raised the bar, gave all and produced a score that made us second in Europe. I am very proud of them. Big thanks to STIHL GB for all the support that they gave us this year and all the guys that travelled over to support us."
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Individual champion, Australia's Brad De Losa
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STIHL TIMBERSPORTS World Champion 2013, Brad De Losa receives his trophy from Dr Nikolas Stihl, Chairman of the STIHL Group's Advisory and Supervisory Boards
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GB Team Captain, Spike Milton celebrates in the World Championship Team event
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New Zealand take victory in the World Championship Team event. Next to them on the podium Team USA take 2nd and Australia 3rd
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