Team Canada lands bronze medal against the world's top athletes of the Original Extreme Sport

Team Canada chopped their way to a bronze medal in Liverpool for the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS^® 2018 World Championship

LIVERPOOL, UK, Oct. 25, 2018 /CNW/ - Twenty-three nations from across the world chopped and sawed their way through the competition in hopes of finishing on top on October 19^th. In a thrilling competition in front of 3,000 spectators in the Echo Arena in Liverpool, the team from Australia won the Championship for the sixth time. After setting a new world record in the semi-final, they defeated the impressive team from the USA in the final heat and – after a one-year break – earned their fourth title in five years. New Zealand, the defending champions, only managed a fourth-place finish following their loss to Canada, who finished third.

Stirling Hart competing at the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS 2018 World Championship (CNW Group/STIHL TIMBERSPORTS)

The Canadians made it back to the podium after a one-year hiatus: on the road to the semi-final, the "Canucks" skillfully moved past Norway and Germany, until they met their match in the new World Champions. Despite a new team record of 49.72 seconds, the team led by Stirling Hart could not keep up with Australia. Despite the bitter defeat, the Canadians used the momentum from their strong performance in the earlier heats and secured a third-place finish against New Zealand in the small final. "It's really great for us to have medalled. I'm very proud of the team," said Stirling Hart.

Team Canada is composed of 2018 World Champions Trophy Winner Stirling Hart (Vancouver, BC), 2017 Canadian Champion Mitch Hewitt (Scotch Creek, BC), 2015 Canadian Champion Marcel Dupuis (Memramcook, NB), 2016 World Rookie Champion Ben Cumberland (Keswick Ridge, NB) and 2016 Canadian Rookie Champion George Williams (River Denys, NS). Also joining Team Canada to Liverpool was 2018 Canadian Rookie Champion Connor Morse (Kingston, NS).

About STIHL TIMBERSPORTS^®

STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® is an international logger sports competition series. Its roots lie in Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand, where local loggers would hold competitions to determine who the strongest man was. These logging disciplines evolved with time into a series of sporting disciplines that require tremendous athleticism, strength, precision and power. Today the world's best athletes compete in national and international events featuring three axe disciplines (Springboard Chop, Underhand Chop and Standing Block Chop) and three sawing disciplines (Single Buck, Stock Saw and the open class, modified Hot Saw. Athletes compete against each other and the clock. For more information visit: www.stihl-timbersports.com

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SOURCE STIHL TIMBERSPORTS

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