The TIMBERSPORTS season reaches its pinnacle at the World Championship later this month, and the current British Champion, Glen Penlington, will be looking to make his mark after qualifying for the Individual World Championship for the first time.
Penlington will travel to the Porsche Arena in Stuttgart with the rest of the British Team to take part in the Team World Championship on Friday 30 October, when eighteen teams from around the world will go head-to-head in the original extreme sport.
Each country will compete in teams of four, completing four TIMBERSPORTS disciplines in a relay; the Stock Saw, the Underhand Chop, the Single Buck and finally, the Standing Block Chop.
The 2026 British team comprises of Penlington, plus fellow Welshmen Rowan Luxton and Jack Morris, Graham Turner from Scotland and Englishmen George Spencer and Tom Redmond. All six have competed in the Team event before and will be looking to make the most of their experience to improve on their 7th placed finish and new National Record time that they set in 2025.
The Australian team will once again be the favourites, having secured the overall win for the last six Championships in a row. But there will be plenty of competition from the other nations, who will all have been training hard ready for the season finale.
Whatever the result, Penlington will have no opportunity to relax, as the Individual World Championship takes place just 24 hours later on Saturday 31 October. In the Individual event, the top 12 athletes in the world compete for the ultimate TIMBERSPORTS title in all six disciplines; the Stock Saw, the Underhand Chop, the Single Buck, the Standing Block Chop, the Springboard and the Hot Saw. Consistency is key and even the smallest of mistakes can lead to disqualification in a discipline, ruining an athlete’s chances of making the podium.
But European competitors first have to qualify for the Individual World Championship. All of the national champions’ times from the season are ranked against each other and the top seven go through to compete on the world stage.
Despite being crowned British Champion five years in a row, 2026 is the first time that Penlington’s times have been quick enough to secure qualification and he cannot wait to represent his country.
“It is a dream of mine to take part in the World Championship. I knew my times from the British Championship were good, but I’ve had to wait over three months to find out if I had qualified,” Penlington said. “I’ve continued all of my training anyway, but now that my place is confirmed, I feel like I have to step it up another notch!”
The 2025 World Champion, Jack Jordan, won’t be there to defend his crown, after his brother Shane beat him to the top spot in the New Zealand National Championship, so this blows the competition wide open. Regardless of who delivers the quickest times on the night, the audience will be guaranteed extreme action from start to finish!
The World Championship takes place on 30 and 31 October at the Porsche Arena, Stuttgart. Tickets have already completely sold out, but both the Individual and World Championship will be livestreamed via the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS YouTube channel.
