Canada's Marcel Dupuis Takes Bronze and Is Only Athlete to Set World Record at 2022 STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® Individual World Championship
LONDON, ON, Nov. 1, 2022 /CNW/ - Three-time Canadian Champion and Team Canada captain Marcel Dupuis sets a world record as he battled his way to bronze competing against the world's top athletes in the Individual World Championship. The 2022 STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® World Championship was held in Gothenburg, Sweden for the first time on October 28-29, 2022.
In one of the standout moments in front of a sold-out crowd of more than 3,000 fans, Dupuis came out in the first heat for the Single Buck Saw discipline putting up a personal best of 11.42 seconds, which qualified as a new world record and the only such record set at the 2022 Championship. This discipline consists of sawing through 19 inches of white pine using a single man cross-cut saw and time ends when the block is clearly severed.
This achievement along with his excellent time achieved during the Springboard discipline (59.89 seconds) are what allowed Dupuis to gain ground from 7th place and saw his way to bronze. Australia's Brad Da Losa won gold edging out USA's Matt Gogar who took silver.
"Marcel always wants to compete against the very best in the world and he had that chance, and we again saw him standing on the podium with a bronze medal around his neck and a world record in the history books," says Andrew Kitt, Manager of STIHL TIMBERSPORTS in Canada.
For the Team World Championship – the other half of this year's Championship – it was a battle down to the final chop with Team Canada coming in at 4th place. Competing against 20 other teams in a knock-out system involving the completion of four disciplines – Stock Saw, Underhand Chop, Single Buck and Standing Block Chop – in a relay format, Nick Russell kicked off Team Canada's relay on the Stock Saw, followed by Dupuis on the Underhand Chop. Newcomer Geoff Larkin pulled the Single Buck and made way for Ben Cumberland who blasted through the final block of wood in the Standing Block Chop.
In the end, Team Australia followed up their 2018 and 2019 success with another victory claiming their seventh overall title ahead of Team USA who came in second place and Team New Zealand taking third place.
Team Canada is composed of the country's top four athletes crowned at the 2022 STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Canadian Championship, which took place in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island in July:
- Marcel Dupuis (Memramcook, NB): three-time 1st place Canadian Pro Champion (2015, 2021, 2022) and current champion; silver medalist at the 2021 Individual World Championship; past Team Canada member.
- Geoff Larkin (Middle Musquodoboit, NS) replacing Nathan Cumberland who has suffered a lower back injury (Keswick Ridge, NB): competing in TIMBERSPORTS since 2010; coach of 2022 Rookie Champion Thian Carmen; first time as a Team Canada member.
- Ben Cumberland (Brookvale, NS): two-time 2nd place Canadian Pro Champion (2016, 2019); gold medalist at the 2016 Rookie World Championship; past Team Canada member.
- Nick Russell (Port McNeil, BC): top 10 athlete in Canadian Pro Championship since 2013; past Team Canada member.
For more information about the World Championship or STIHL TIMBERSPORTS, visit www.timbersports.ca and www.stihl-timbersports.com.
STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® consists of up to six disciplines, pending division and competition type, three of which use an axe – Springboard, Standing Block Chop and Underhand Chop – and three using a saw – Stock Saw, Single Buck, and Hot Saw. Most of the disciplines have evolved from traditional forestry techniques that have been practiced for over 150 years, whereas the Hot Saw is a modern discipline that sees athletes build their own customized super powered chainsaws. These saws get modified with motorbike engines and use high octane fuel that super-power these hot saws to cut through wood like butter. The keys to victory in STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® are a combination of an outstanding fitness level, perfect technical skills with the axe and saw, and a complete focused and mentally strong condition to withstand the enormous pressure of this competition.
SOURCE Porter Novelli Canada
Media requiring further information, please contact: Maria Antonopoulos, Porter Novelli Canada, cel# (416) 689-2042 | [email protected]; From STIHL TIMBERSPORTS: Andrew Kitt, Producer, cel# (519) 777-9553 | [email protected]; Jessica Feeney, Social Media & Website Coordinator, cel# (705) 559-7613 | [email protected]
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