My life in sport: Jason Wynyard

Jason Wynyard is preparing to compete in next month's Timbersports World Championship in Switzerland. Photo / Rotorua Daily Post

Kiwi axeman Jason Wynyard returns home today after snaring a record eighth Stihl Timbersports Series win in the United States this week.

At 1.95m tall and weighing 130kg, Wynyard is one of the most powerful and prolific woodchoppers and cutters in the world, winning more than 110 world titles, but few New Zealanders realise the extent of his achievements.

Although on paper Wynyard is the best axeman in the world, this latest victory is his first series win since 2006.

The burly 35-year-old from West Auckland now has his sights set on adding more world titles to his already impressive haul at next month's World Championships in Switzerland.

What inspired you to embark upon a career in timbersports?

I started woodchopping at the age of 14, mainly because my Dad was a competitor and I grew up going to competitions watching him. So I took it up and it just kind of snowballed for me. It was something that I had a lot of natural ability at and I became pretty good at it quite quickly. It turned into a professional career when I first went to the United States in 1996.

Is woodchopping a fulltime career for you or do you have a day job as well?

I'm actually looking for a day job, but it's something that takes a lot of time to prepare for so I have to do a lot of training. It's pretty hard to hold down a job with my travelling and training commitments because the other side of it is you have to do as many competitions as you can to keep your hand and eye in. It's a pretty difficult one to swing a career as well as trying to be the best at woodchopping.

What's the best thing about your sport?

It's really challenging. It's great to go up against the best competitors in the world, to pit yourself against them and see how good you are. I never thought it would turn in to something that I'd do professionally but like I said, it kind of snowballed for me and I'm really lucky to do what I love doing.

And the worst thing?

I suppose the hardest thing is the preparation. Getting wood is really difficult and I find that's the best way for me to train to actually duplicate the events at home. The training can get you down a bit at times. It's an individual thing so it's not like you're running around in a rugby team training together. I'm usually just on my own so that can get a bit odd after a while. When you have your training work out to big achievements like this one, it kind of makes it all worthwhile.

What's been the proudest moment of your sporting career?

Winning the 'Jack and Jill' competition and breaking the record with my wife Karmyn in 2006. It's something special when you get to compete with your wife in a World Championship and to win it and break the record was pretty amazing. We're going to have another shot at that next month so I'm really looking forward to that.

And the worst moment?

I've had some pretty trying times with injuries. I tore my shoulder about five years ago at a crucial time just before I was heading off to the USA. And that being the main income for me it was really tough. But I was really lucky to be able to bounce back with some really good treatment and the help of a couple of good people back in New Zealand.

If you weren't involved in timber sports, what would you be doing?

I don't really know. I started out working at a quarry in Russell and then I moved on to driving concrete trucks so I guess I'd probably still be driving a concrete truck if I wasn't travelling around woodchopping.

Who was your childhood hero?

There were a few. I'd say people like Buck Shelford and all those All Blacks of that era were big role models for me. We've had so many top sports people, it's hard to sort of single out any one person.

When you were a kid were there any other sports you sort of fancied yourself as a future star in?

Not really. I wasn't really too interested in that many sports when I was younger. I thought I might have been able to play rugby when I got a bit older but that didn't really work out. It wasn't something that was very natural to me.

What's the one career ambition you'd like to realise before you retire?

Well hopefully that's quite a way off for me. This year's Stihl Timbersports competition reignited the passion I have for the sport. I qualified to represent New Zealand in the Timbersports World Championship in Switzerland and I'm really fired up about that. I'm looking forward to getting straight back in to training to prepare for that. So that's my next big goal. It's a pretty good sport like that, there's always something around the corner that keeps you on your toes.

CV

Stihl Timbersports Champion - 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2005, 2006 and 2009.

Lumber Jack World Champion - 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008.

Great Outdoor Games (Men's Endurance Champion) - 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004.

Stihl Timbersports World Champion - 2006 (Germany).