sports@mapleridgenews.com
A Maple Ridge loggers sports icon is on his way to the world championships this weekend.
The Stihl Timbersports World Championships in Liverpool, England is the 2018 season finale for the global series. Stirly Hart of Maple Ridge will be among the athletes from 23 nations from across the world who will chop and saw their way through the competition in hopes of finishing on top on Oct. 19-20.
“I am excited to be a part of Team Canada once again, for the fifth consecutive year! The 2017 World Championships didn’t go as well as we expected, so we are hungry for a big win,” said Hart, who is just coming off an international stage win at the World Champions Trophy in Marseille, France in May.
“Bringing home a gold medal this year, after winning the World Champions Trophy, would be everything to me,” he added.
Team Canada is composed of 2018 World Champions trophy winner Hart, 2017 Canadian champion Mitch Hewitt of Scotch Creek, 2015 Canadian champion Marcel Dupuis of Memramcook, N.B., 2016 world rookie champion Ben Cumberland of Keswick Ridge, N.B. and 2016 Canadian rookie champion George Williams of River Denys, N.S..
“Being selected for the national team is the highest honour there is in the Stihl Timbersports circuit,” said Marcel Dupuis, a six time Team Canada member. “I am very happy to be a part of the team, and I will give it my very best to help bring home a gold medal. Our team has evolved over the years; there is a core group of us that have been working together since 2014, when we first won our silver medal is Austria. We won another silver medal in Germany in 2016, coming second against Australia. We have been close to the gold each time, so teams like New Zealand and Australia need to watch their backs.”