STIHL TIMBERSPORTS®

STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® is one of the most exciting sports on the planet. The action is intense, and athletes bring unparalleled precision, power and speed to the competition. It’s a sport that truly must be seen to be believed.

  • Latest News
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    STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® heads to Wollongong, NSW 

    The STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® Series is excited to announce that ‘The Original Extreme Sport‘ will be returning to NSW, this time at the Breakwater Lighthouse, Wollongong. This iconic lighthouse location will be the backdrop for the main event of the Australian Series, with the Rookie and Pro Championships confirmed for Saturday 16th September 2023. 

    In a day of high-powered, high-octane extreme sports action, our nation’s top athletes in the original extreme sport will be battling it out with razor sharp axes and high-powered saws to be crowned the 2023 Australian Rookie Champion and the 2023 Pro Australian Champion. 

    The axe-ion will start at Breakwater Lighthouse, Wollongong from 12pm 16th September (AEST) with the Australian Rookie Championship showcasing the sports best up and coming talent in the under 25 division. The top 6 Rookie athletes will battle it out in 5 disciplines: Underhand Chop, Stock Saw, Standing Block Chop, Single Buck and the One Board Tree. 

    The winner will go on to represent Australia in the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® Individual World Championship in Stuttgart, Germany on the 3rd of November 2023. 

    The individual athlete also becomes the first member of the Chopperoos team that will participate in the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® Team World Championship to be held on the 2nd of November, the night before the individual competition. 

    The main event of the day, the Pro Championship, will start from approx. 2pm and the supporting festival will run through until 8pm with food trucks, music and licensed bar. Thanks to the support of the City of Wollongong (wollongong.com.au), don’t forget entry is free!

    De Losa THE MAN TO BEAT!

    Brad De Losa dominated the 2022 Pro series and is ready to defend his 2022 Australian Pro Champion title at this year’s STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® Pro Championship held in Wollongong, NSW. De Losa came up against some tough competition last year but fought his way to the top, placing 1st on the podium with Jamie Head coming in a close 2nd and Laurence O’Toole in 3rd place. 

    “I had a successful TIMBERSPORTS® season last year and I would like to walk away with the title again this year. There is nothing better than getting the chance to represent your country on the world stage and this year’s World Championship is in Stuttgart, Germany, which is the home to STIHL and the crowd is nothing I have ever experienced before” Brad said. 

    Brad has his work cut out for him with the other top-ranking athletes wanting to take the title from him. Jamie Head is one athlete that will be looking to beat De Losa this year after his amazing 2nd place result last year. Head is one of the best Stock Saw competitors in Australia and will be looking to place at the top of that discipline to position himself with a chance to take the overall win for the day. 

    “After last year’s win I have been training and working on my weaker disciplines so I can come in all guns blazing at this year’s Pro Championship” Jamie says. 

    The other athletes to watch are Brayden Meyer and Laurence O’Toole who won’t be far behind to swoop in and take that win. 

    The dark horse of this year’s comp is Jake Dingle. Since coming into the competition in 2020 Jake has climbed the ranking ladder and placed 6th in last year Pro Championship, just missing out on becoming the 5th member of the Chopperoos team. Will he take on the top guys and make the team this year?

    WHO WILL BE CROWNED 2023 ROOKIE CHAMPION!

    The Rookie Championship is also back this year at Wollongong and will start the day off with some tough and entertaining battles. 

    Last year’s Rookie Champion Curtis Bennett is the athlete to beat at this year’s STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® Rookie Championship. He has only just returned from representing Australia at the 2022 STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® Rookie World Championship in Rotterdam, Netherlands where he placed 2nd, just missing out on 1st place by 1 point to Szymon Groenwald from Poland. 

    “I am feeling confident walking into the Rookie Championship this year. I have been training hard and I’m ready to take on the top Rookie athletes here in Australia to get another chance at the world title” Curtis said. 

    Bennett will take on leading Australian Rookie athletes like Matt Coffey and Tyson Rowe, who are sure to bring their A game to this year’s competition. Lane Chant returns after a year out of the competition and Zac Koulids comes back for a second year to battle the best of the best in the Australian Rookie series. Will Lovell, the dark horse of the Rookies, will look to make a name for himself this year. He had his first taste of the competition last year, competing in the Rookie Qualifiers and placing 2nd to then earn a spot in the 2022 Rookie Championship, where he placed 4th. He is definitely one athlete to watch. 

    FULL EVENT DETAILS

    STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® Australian 2023 Pro and Rookie Championships 
    •    Location: Breakwater Lighthouse, Wollongong, NSW  
    •    Date: Saturday 16th September 2023
    •    Entry: FREE COMMUNITY EVENT

    Full Event Schedule:
    •    Gates Open: 11:30AM
    •    Rookie Championship: 12:00PM - 1:30PM
    •    Pro Championship: 2:00pm – 4:00pm 
    •    Grand Final: 4:00PM – 4:30PM
    •    Ceremony: 4:30PM
    •    Food Truck Carnival Open: 12:00PM – 8:00PM
    •    Gates Close: 8:00PM

    How the Pro Championship works.

    The Pro Championship is a three round competition comprising of six STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® wood chopping and sawing disciplines. 
    Round 1:
    We start the day with 12 athletes, all who will complete the first three disciplines (Underhand Chop, STIHL Stock Saw and Standing Block Chop), with 12 points awarded to the fastest athlete, and 1 for the slowest. 
    Round 2:
    After the three disciplines, only the top eight athletes will go on to the next two disciplines: the Single Buck, and the crowd favourite, the Springboard. Points will now double with 16 going to the fastest athlete, and 2 to the slowest. 
    Round 3:
    Before the final event, the Hot Saw, we will lose another two athletes, leaving the top six to shoot it out for triple points with their custom-made monster chainsaws!

    After round 3, the athlete with the most points is crowned the Pro Australian Champion and wins the honour of representing Australia at the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® World Championship. Five athletes will also form the Chopperoos Team to compete in the Team World Championship in Gothenburg, Sweden on the 28th and 29th of October 2022. They will be up against the best European athletes as well as New Zealand, Canadian and American athletes. 

    How the Rookie Championship works.

    The Rookie Championship includes four of the six STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® wood chopping and sawing disciplines, with wood sizes slightly smaller than the Pro Championship. Athletes compete in all four disciplines and points are awarded based on times. The fastest athlete in each discipline will receive 6 points and the slowest 1 point. At the end of the four disciplines, the winner is the athlete with the highest point’s total. The winner of the Rookie Australian Championship will win the honour of representing Australia at the 2023 Rookie World Championship. The Rookie World Championship is held in Europe each May/June. 

    How to watch.

    There is nothing quite as thrilling as experiencing STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® LIVE! However, if you can’t make it to Wollongong, you can catch all of the axe-ion via the live stream on our Facebook page: click here  or YouTube channels: click here

    Highlights of the action will also air on 7mate later in the year. You can watch the latest episodes of the series on 7mate every Friday at 4:30pm, Saturdays at 12:30pm.

    Want more? Catch up with all the action from previous seasons at here or view the latest content on socials: 
    Facebook: click here
    YouTube: click here 
    Instagram: click here

    PRO CHAMPIONSHIP CONFIRMED ATHLETES:
    Brayden Meyer – QLD, Laurence O’Toole – VIC, Brad De Losa – NSW, Glen Gillam – VIC, Jamie Head – QLD, Kody Steers – TAS, Mitch Argent – QLD, Jake Dingle - QLD, Daniel Gurr - TAS, Matt Gurr – TAS, David Reumer – NSW, Blake Meyer – VIC.

    ROOKIE CHAMPIONSHIP CONFIRMED ATHLETES:
    Curtis Bennett – NSW, Matt Coffey – VIC, Zac Giouzelis – VIC, Lane Chant - VIC, Tyson Rowe - TAS, Will Lovell – TAS.

  • STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® Events
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    STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® Events

    Upcoming Australian Events:

    Australian Trophy 2023 – Saturday 4th March – Glenelg SA
    Australian Women’s Championship 2023 – Saturday 4th March – Glenelg SA
    Australian Rookie Championship 2023 – Saturday 16th September – Wollongong NSW Wollongong Breakwater Lighthouse from 12pm
    Australian Pro Championship 2023 – Saturday 16th September – Wollongong NSW Wollongong Breakwater Lighthouse from 12pm

    Follow STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® on social media for the latest updates.

    Upcoming World Events:

    Rookie World Championship 2023 – Friday 9th June 2023 – Rotterdam, Netherlands
    International Women’s Cup 2023 – Saturday 10th June 2023 – Rotterdam, Netherlands
    World Trophy 2023 – Saturday 10th June 2023 – Rotterdam, Netherlands
    Team World Championship 2022 – Friday 3rd November 2023 – Stuttgart, Germany
    Individual World Championship 2022 – Saturday 4th  November 2023 – Stuttgart, Germany

    For the full schedule of events from around the globe visit: https://data.stihl-timbersports.com/Events

    The competition formats explained:

    There are three different formats/event styles in the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS®
    Series - the Traditional Individual Format, the Trophy format and the Team Relay.
    Read on below to find out more about each.

    Traditional Individual Format

    In the Traditional Individual Format, PRO athletes compete in six disciplines: three with axes and three with saws. Springboard, Underhand Chop and Standing Block Chop are the classic axe disciplines. Single Buck (single-man crosscut saw), Stock Saw (standard chainsaw) and Hot Saw (tuned, customised chainsaw with up to 80 horsepower) are the sawing disciplines. Athletes compete against each other and the clock; points are awarded based on ranked times. There are divisions for Female athletes and Rookies (aged under 25) where the number of disciplines and size of the logs are reduced in size. Female athletes compete in the underhand chop, stocksaw & single buck, where as rookies compete in five disciplines with the addition of the standing block & one board springboard. Each year, Australia’s top athletes compete in the National Championship. The winner qualifies to compete at the World Championship against the best from around the Globe.

    Team Format

    In the Team Format, the Team Relay takes place at the World Championship each year. A team of four athletes compete in a relay race including the Stock Saw, Underhand Chop, Single Buck and Standing Block Chop. After setting a qualification time in the time trial, teams are paired into a knockout system where they compete head to-head. The winner of each race goes into the next round, while the loser is eliminated.

    Australian Trophy & World Trophy:

    The sport’s most physically enduring and extreme format sees athletes go head-to-head in a series of knockout match-ups. In each match-up, athletes will complete four disciplines back to back: Stock Saw, Underhand Chop, Single Buck and Standing Block Chop. The fastest athlete from each match-up will progress to the next round, culminating in a grand final between the last two remaining competitors, where the winner will be crowned. The Australian Trophy is held at a different venue across the country each year, usually between February and April. Sixteen athletes are ranked for the competition, from whence the winner advances to the World Trophy. From there, they will compete against the qualifiers from Europe, USA, Canada and New Zealand. The World Trophy is held in May each year, usually in Europe.
     

  • About STIHL TIMBERSPORTS®
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    About STIHL TIMBERSPORTS®

    Often referred to as the original extreme sport, sports logging is a tradition that goes back over a hundred years when, at the end of the 19th century, forest workers began to compete with each other at axe and saw in their free time. The roots of the sport are in Australia and New Zealand – from here it spread to Canada and the USA. From improvised beginnings, around a dozen sporting disciplines evolved, including those that simulate the felling and cutting of trees. To succeed in these disciplines, athletes must be skilled in handling the tools and material wood, while possessing great strength, endurance and a precise technique.

    According to the Australian Axemen’s Association, one of the first traditional competitions took place in Tasmania in 1891. Today, STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® is an international extreme sport competition series in sports logging. This is where the best athletes compete; it has the most viewers and enjoys the greatest media interest. In 1985, STIHL USA launched the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® Series in the USA together with the sports channel ESPN while in Europe, the 2020 competition series is in its 20th year.

    The competitions now take place on four continents, with around 2,000 athletes from over 20 countries taking part. At the national and international top-class competitions in sports logging, athletes compete for the best times with up to three axe and three sawing disciplines. These classic axe competitions include Springboard, Underhand Chop and Standing Block Chop, with saws including the Single Buck (pull saw), the Stock Saw (commercially available chainsaw) and the Hot Saw (up to 80 hp, tuned chainsaw).

  • Watch STIHL TIMBERSPORTS®
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    Watch STIHL TIMBERSPORTS®

    Witness the action of STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® Australia LIVE at HOME or on the GO!

    WATCH AT HOME!

    Watch STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® on 7mate every Saturday at 12.30pm and Sunday at various times depending on your state (check local TV listings for details)

    WATCH ON THE GO!

    You can also watch all current episodes on 7Plus - Click Here

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