Chopping Champ

Thirty-six-year-old West Auckland lumberjack Jason Wynyard has won the overall title at the Stihl Timbersports Championships 2009 in Brienz, Switzerland. All participants were among the world elite, but the fastest and technically most perfect in the race was Wynyard, who won four out of six disciplines. World champion Wynyard was delighted with his victory: “After a weak start in the first [discipline] I was pretty well beaten. It was hard work but a great race. Brienz is beautiful, the people were wonderful and I am proud that I’ve won here. It is a special moment for me.” The win in Brienz caps a big year for Wynyard, who took out the Stihl Timbersports series in the US in June. “It’s probably the closest event we get to the Olympics in our sport, really, so winning was a really special moment to me,” he said.