Canada’s Andrea Hand claims victory in the first ever Women's World Championship following a spectacular display of strength, skill and precision in front of a passionate crowd here in Budapest, Hungary.
Witnessing the inaugural STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® Women’s World Championship, the crowds provided memorable championship atmosphere, with spectators generating tremendous support for athletes from every nation.
Takiah Moore Barrett atoned for a disqualification in the first discipline of the evening in Stock Saw against opponent Ashleigh Marsh who grabbed a personal-best of 17.86 sec. Karolina Urbanová stunned the Hungarian crowd with a World Record time of 22.99 seconds in the Standing Block Chop, a first World Record breaker of the weekend, history made twice!
The atmosphere inside the grandstand and surrounding areas continued to build throughout the competition, as the crowd witness six National Records in the Single Buck and two personal bests.
Andrea Hand took a 26.11 sec time in the Underhand Chop to remain victorious and take victory from runner up Karolina Urbanová, cementing the crown to be the first Women’s World Championship Winner.
The championship once again highlighted the continued growth of women's STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® around the world, with athletes delivering exceptional performances and demonstrating the increasing depth of talent across the international field.
Karolina Urbanová brings a new Standing Block Chop World Record to the table:
Karolina Urbanová was part of history taking part in the first Women’s Championship event before doubling history and making a World Record in the Standing Block Chop. “I’m really happy, a big thank you to Alex Meurisse as he made my axes for this World Championship. I’m really happy with my time, I was really looking forward to this discipline.”
Four disciplines, a plate full of competitiveness:
From the opening discipline, the 10 athletes delivered a world-class performance and dramatic moments from one new world record set to 14 National Records and six personal best results as they took the stage for the first time at a STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® championship event.
Andrea Hand, 2026 Women’s World Championship Winner: “I don’t know if there are words to describe it, it’s amazing. It’s such a steep field of women out there so to get the opportunity to be out there and for STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® to make a huge statement to give a world stage to women in this sport and believing in us, I truly thank them. When I realized I was one of the only 10 women out there, that was a pretty big moment for me.” ‘My Husband is my biggest supporter along with my kids, he pushed me beyond what I thought I could do and believed in me that there were another gear and another side, he works tirelessly to help me with my training and make sure my gear is the way I like it. He always carries snacks in his pocket, he’s so smart.”
Karolina Urbanová, 2026 Women’s World Championship Runner Up: “I’m a silver medallist, I have world records on my accounts, so what is more to wish for, it’s awesome. Everything just fits together and this is the result so it’s great! All I wanted to do one day was visit Budapest, so it was a great combination with the World’s to be able to see the city and the architecture and now to be second in the World’s, it’s just great.”
Lauren Bergman, 2026 Women’s World Championship Bronze Medallist: “I’m very happy, very excited to be here and feeling blessed. I made some mistakes today and the other girls jumped on but overall had a great day, had some personal bests so can’t complain about that. Karolina broke my World Record today so my names off the books for that, but I’ll always have this bronze medal so that’s great. Records are made to be broken so you never know. It was a great crowd, I had to really focus because the crowd was enthusiastic and it’s easy to get distracted, so I just had to focus on my work.”
