Women Shatter Lumberjack World Records in Wisconsin

Karolina Urbanova stood on a stage in Hayward, Wisconsin, and chopped through 9 inches of white pine in 19.38 seconds, shattering a world record that had stood at 21.17 seconds. The 24-year-old from a small Czech village had never even heard of lumberjack sports until a neighbor introduced her to the sport as a teenager.

Now she's one of the best in the world, having broken two records at the annual Lumberjack World Championships this past weekend. In the Underhand Chop event, where competitors stand on wood and chop between their feet, she sliced through 11 inches of white pine in 21.28 seconds, beating the previous record by nearly three seconds.

She wasn't the only woman making history. Hayward native Meredith Ingbretson broke the Women's Boom Run record, racing back and forth across eight linked cedar logs in 13.78 seconds.

Urbanova remembers when only three women competed in lumberjack sports across all of Europe. "Telling people from the city that you are chopping wood usually every day, they looked weird at me," she says with a laugh.

Now 40 women competed alongside 66 men at this year's championships. That's more than triple the female participation from 30 years ago, according to event director Samantha LaSalle.

The Ripple Effect

The growth hasn't happened by accident. Women fought to expand beyond logrolling, the only event originally open to them when the championships began in 1960. The Women's Standing Block Chop, where Urbanova set her record, was only added in 2022.

"They were saying: 'We can do more. We can do this event that the men have traditionally done,'" LaSalle explains. As more women practiced and proved themselves competitive, organizers added new categories.

The community atmosphere keeps competitors coming back. Prize money rarely covers expenses, so athletes stay with host families when traveling internationally. Ingbretson and her husband stayed with a family in Tasmania last winter, while her mother hosted Canadian and Australian competitors in Hayward.

Social media and college timber sports programs are now introducing the sport to a new generation of women across the United States. Ingbretson was particularly moved to see three or four mothers competing this year while raising families.

Both record-breakers train year-round, lifting weights, running, and perfecting their axe techniques. For Urbanova, who trains daily in a barn back in the Czech Republic, the odd looks from city dwellers don't matter anymore.

The times keep dropping each year, proving everyone is getting better and stronger.