Jacek Jaśkowiak, Poznan’s Mayor, is very pleased that the city has brought a top event in the elite division of lumberjack sports to Poland for the first time. “I am delighted that the city of Poznan is to host the upcoming World Championship. This is the most important competition of all in competitive lumberjack sport. I am convinced that it will be a great and exciting event that is sure to help popularize this type of sport throughout Poland”.
Like previous World Championship venues Innsbruck (2014), Stuttgart (2013) and Lillehammer (2012), Poznan is a city that’s big on sport, as it proved most recently with the European Rowing Championships in May 2015. Six months later, Poznan will receive the elite lumberjack athletes from all over Europe as well as Australia, New Zealand, the USA and Canada. The first day of the competition, 13 November, will see the national teams from more than 20 countries competing against one another in the team contest at the city’s Congress Center. On the second day of the World Championship, 14 November, the twelve best international athletes will battle for the title and medals in the individual rating. Each day’s contests will last about three hours and will be accompanied by a supporting program of events.
At last year’s World Championship in Austria, New Zealander Jason Wynyard secured victory in the individual competition ahead of the athletes from the Czech Republic and Australia, while in the team event the Australians were out in front of Canada and the USA. In the World Championship in their own country the Polish national team under national champion and captain, Arkadiusz Drozdek, are hoping for a placing among the world’s best eight. Back in 2008 the team was the runner-up European Champion in the European Championship held in St. Johann in Austria’s Tyrol. The 2015 World Championship is expected to draw fans from Poland and all over the world and particularly from the Czech Republic, Germany and Scandinavia, in view of their geographical proximity. The STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® World Championship is also likely to be popular with the employees of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, an official partner to the Series. Poznan is home to the firm’s Polish marketing company as well as a factory with more than 7,000 employees.
Spectacular disciplines to thrill spectators
The STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® Series is an international competition series in lumberjack sport, which has a long tradition. The history of the first contests dates back to 1870. The first Wood chopping World Championships took place in Tasmania in 1891. From there, logging sport took off around the world. Even today, nearly all the disciplines - three with the axe and three with the saw - replicate traditional forestry activities. All the disciplines revolve around the athlete and his handling of the sports equipment and the wood. In the individual competition for the World Championship in Poznan and in the ten or so national championships taking place around the world between May and October the athletes have to complete six disciplines – Springboard, Stock Saw, Standing Block Chop, Single Buck, Underhand Chop and Hot Saw. The Springboard and Hot Saw disciplines are not included in the team competition for the World Championship or in the Champions Trophy. The World Championship in the elite division of lumberjack sports attracts up to 10,000 spectators to the live events, with millions of fans regularly following the competitions on Eurosport and other television stations worldwide.