Taking place on 27 May 2022 is the Rookie World Championship, featuring 12 of the best newcomers to the sport under the age of 25 in a three-round competition across five disciplines: the Underhand Chop, Stock Saw, the Standing Block Chop, Single Buck and Springboard. Each competitor will accumulate points in each round based on their placing in each discipline, with the lowest ranked athletes dropping out after each round. The athlete with the most points at the end of the third round will be crowned the 2022 STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® Rookie World Champion.

The Rookie World Championship 2022 will see the Rookie champions from each of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA as well as the eight best newcomers from the 2021 European Rookie rankings come together to crown the globe’s top rookie in The Original Extreme Sport.

Chris Lord from New Zealand crowned Rookie World Champion in 2019

In 2019, New Zealand’s Chris Lord was crowned the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® Rookie World Champion, winning the title by the finest of margins at the stunning Tjolöholm Castle in Sweden. In an enthralling contest, Lord finished joint top of the overall standings, locked on 32 points with Australia’s Josh Bakes as the southern hemisphere pair dominated the final three disciplines of the competition. Unable to separate the two by points, Lord was awarded first place having posted an overall time of 57.36 seconds, a mere 0.23 seconds faster than Bake’s 57.59. Sweden’s Emil Hansson completed the top three, earning himself a spot on the podium in his home country after an impressive display.

2021 Rookie European Championship saw Czech’s Matyáš Klíma emerge victorious

In 2021, Czech Republic’s Matyáš Klíma set a world record in the Single Buck on his way to a dominating Rookie European Championship victory at Motorworld Munich, Germany. On a stunning day of competition across three tense rounds of thrilling woodchopping and sawing axe-tion, Klíma emerged victorious with a total of 65 points, having topped the scoreboard in three of the five disciplines. He finished ahead of France’s Loic Voinson on 58 points, who was consistent throughout, and Switzerland’s Oliver Reinhard, who set a world record in the Springboard discipline.