Jack Jordan celebrates his win in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Photo / Stihl Timbersports
Jack Jordan celebrates his win in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Photo / Stihl Timbersports
New Zealand’s top axemen Jack Jordan has won the STIHL Timbersports World Trophy for the second year in a row – shattering the world record time in the process.
Jack, a King Country farmer originally from Stratford, beat the field of 16 best axemen on the planet to win the title for the second year in a row in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
The STIHL Timbersports World Trophy format is like the 20/20 cricket of international woodchopping.
It is a quick-fire event with four disciplines back to back suited to competitors with superior fitness and endurance as they make their way through knockout stages to the showdown.
Jack came from behind in the dramatic final seconds of the last Standing Block Chop discipline to win the world title against Polish competitor Michal Dubicki.
It was not just a personal best (PB) time for Jordan in the final, it was a new world record of 53.65 seconds – more than a second quicker than the previous record.
Incredibly this time was also four seconds faster than the time Jordan produced in the first heat of the competition less than an hour earlier.
“It’s great to win it back-to-back, especially after winning it once, you get a feeling of how hard it is, so to come back here and win it again is excellent,” says Jordan
Jordan’s semifinal was a repeat of last year’s contest against Jason Lentz from the United States who he beat by the closest of margins once more to proceed to the breath-taking final.
Sam Bellamy placed third in the Rookie World Trophy Competition in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Photo / STIHL Timbersports
Sam Bellamy from Stratford came third in a 12-strong field in the Rookies (Under 21s) World Trophy competition – securing two personal best times on his way to the podium.
“The competition was bloody awesome to be fair. It went a lot better than I had expected. I had some pretty good times in the disciplines, which meant some personal bests.”
Anne Paterson, who comes from Greymouth, completed the three-strong NZ team and came fourth in the Women’s World Trophy event.
In the process, Paterson also became the first axe-women to represent Aotearoa on the world stage.
It was the first time in the world trophy’s 12-year history that an official women’s competition was held alongside the men’s competition – allowing New Zealand to send its national champ off to an international event for the very first time.
