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STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® EVENTS AND DATES

The TIMBERSPORTS® season in Australia normally begins in March. National championships are held throughout the season in more than 15 countries worldwide. The season ends in autumn with the World Championship.

The German events are usually held during the summer months. Athletes compete in qualification events, known as cups, to try and achieve the times they need to qualify for the German Championship. The Championship represents the high point of the season, and only top athletes can battle it out there for the title of best German competitive lumberjack.

Along with the pro-level competitors, future German elite competitive lumberjacks also compete in axe and saw events in Germany:</ 1153>in rookie contests, the best young athletes test their skills in four of the six TIMBERSPORTS® disciplines to determine their place in the rankings. Athletes aged 25 and under may take part in junior contests as rookies. From the age of 26, a competitor is classed as an intermediate athlete until they safely master all six disciplines and qualify as a pro.

STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® also features women’s events, with some German athletes having already spent ten years on the circuit. Separate women’s competitions to find the German champion have been staged since 2015.

Due to the current COVID-19 situation, the 2020 World Trophy and Rookie World Championship, which were originally to have been held in Vienna on 21 and 22 May, have been cancelled. More information can be found here.

All events in Germany have been provisionally cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak. The intention is to hold the German Championship at a later point in the year subject to a number of special safety requirements. For more information visit.

World Trophy

The twelve best athletes in the world compete for the World Trophy. Athletes must tackle four disciplines (Stock Saw, Underhand Chop, Single Buck, Standing Block Chop) in quick succession,

with all twelve competitors up against the clock in a time trial. The four fastest go directly into the quarter final, while the others go head-to-head in last-chance knockout duels to fight it out for the remaining quarter-final places.

The athletes then compete in more knockout rounds until the two strongest go through to the final, while the runners-up from the semi-finals compete in the third-place play-off.

This competition format demands extreme concentration, endurance, and precision from competitors, and requires athletes to pace themselves to some degree as they progress through the rounds. Spectators love this type of head-to-head contest, but it is extremely tough on competitors. At the 2019 Trophy in Sweden, Matt Cogar from the USA came through the field to pick up his first international title.

A Trophy head-to-head between Robert Ebner and Andrea Rossi from Italy

Rookie World Championship

The Rookie World Championship welcomes the most promising talent from twelve countries, with the best of the rookies battling it out in five disciplines: Stock Saw, Underhand Chop, Single Buck, Standing Block Chop and Springboard.

Unlike the World Trophy, the Rookie World Champion is not decided through a knockout format, but by the points accumulated over several rounds. In the first round, athletes compete in Underhand Chop, Stock Saw and Standing Block Chop disciplines; in round two, Single Buck; and in the final round, Springboard.

Once all athletes have completed a discipline, points are awarded based on their posted times. After each round, the competitors with the lowest scores are eliminated, and the athlete with the highest score at the end of five disciplines becomes Rookie World Champion. The reigning Rookie Champion is Chris Lord from New Zealand.

World Championship

Individual World Championship

Brayden Meyer from Australia is the current Individual World Champion

The Individual World Championship uses a system of rounds to determine the top performer in all six disciplines. In the first round, twelve competitors fight it out in the Underhand Chop, Stock Saw, and Standing Block Chop disciplines to win a place in the second round, and the bottom four are eliminated. The remaining eight athletes must then prove their Single Buck and Springboard skills in round two. The best six from the first two rounds then take on the Hot Saw event in the third and final round. The competitor with the highest score at the end of the multi-discipline contest becomes Individual World Champion. Brayden Meyer from Australia was the winner of the 2019 title in Prague.

Team World Championship

Winners of the 2018 STIHL Timbersports World Championship in Liverpool

This team competition sees two national teams made up of four competitors in each team go head-to-head in Stock Saw, Underhand Chop, Single Buck, Standing Block Chop and Springboard relay events. A time trial determines the quarter-final pairings, from which point only the fastest team in each contest goes forward to the next round. Reigning champions and world record holders are the Australian national team, nicknamed the Chopperoos.