The world championship victory goes to Austria

The first event of the last day was the relay competition, where contestants had to race against the clock and also cut discs quickly and accurately. Although Estonians were the third-fastest in the relay, they also got penalty points and, as a result, dropped out of the top three. The relay results, however, were world-record-worthy. The team of Switzerland beat their own record from the previous world champs by one point. The Austrians did not leave it at that and beat the Swiss result by 6 points, so the new world record in this discipline is 1284 points, and the time is 1.36.01.

 The culmination of the day was the last discipline of the world championships – limbing. The highly spectacular competition attracted many people, so the grandstands and the sides of the venue were packed. Estonia, as the host country, had two teams. One of the Estonians participating as guests, Raino Kivi, finished third in the day, just eight points behind the world record. The starting list was prepared based on the previous days' results, starting with athletes holding last place. The tension was high and rising for nearly four hours.

 Barbara Rinnhofer of Austria was crowned the new world champion in the women's category, with an impressive total score of 1517 points. Second place went to Karina Riive from Estonia, who finished just 9 points behind the leader with a total of 1506 points. Anne-Helene Sommerstad from Norway got third place with 1440 points.

 There was a fascinating competition in the U24 category, where Peeter Mitt and Germany's Ricardo Michalik started the finals with an equal score. Although Peeter Mitt was the fastest in limbing, he made one mistake. The German's time was 4 seconds slower, but his limbing was immaculate.

Therefore, the new U24 world champion is Ricardo Michalik from Germany, whose score was 1643. Estonian Peeter Mitt earned second place with a final score of just five points behind the winner. The third was Michael Ramsbacher of Austria with 1622 points.

 In the professional class, the ranking list drastically changed in the finals. Estonia's Jarro Mihkelson finished the limbing first with a good time, 15.49 seconds, but two mistakes ruined the excellent result, and Mihkelson fell out of the top three.

Mathias Morgenstern of Austria was crowned the world champion. He finished the limbing third but with a very neat result, which secured the ultimate victory for the Austrian. Norway's Ole Harald Kveseth gained just three points less. The Norwegian was also second in the previous World Logging Championships. Third place went to Jürgen Erlacher, holding fifth place before limbing. The Austrian rose to the top three for the neat result and the super fast limbing time (14.96 seconds).

 Unfortunately, Estonians won no medals this time in the professional category. Jarro Mihkelson dropped to 29th place. We are happy for our "grand old man" Taavi Ehrpais, who did a very stable and solid competition, which ensured him 10th place.

 To get back into the usual rhythm of the world championships, the next WLC will be held in Vienna in 2024 already.

 Estonian Forest Society is highly grateful to all sponsors, supporters, partners and everyone who helped.