With strength and precision he has chopped and sawn his way to the top of the tree. Ferry Svan jumped straight in to the limelight last year when he won the gold medal in the Junior World Championships in the odd sport of Timbersport.
Timbersport is a demonstration sport that requires speed, strength, stamina and precision. Qualities that not only drive Ferry Svan forward, but also happen to be the core values of his sponsor, Axelent AB.
“Safety is the number one priority for us who practice the sport, and you have to pass a safety course before you can even pick up a chainsaw,” he explains.
“Axelent and Timbersport have a lot in common, although you wouldn't think so at first glance. This is why it's cool that Axelent have chosen to sponsor me.”
Ferry Svan, 21, is going from strength to strength. He is the ruling Junior World Champion in Timbersport and is a rising star even on the senior side. He is described as a real winner, something he probably inherited from his father Gunde Svan, a Swedish skiing legend.
It was in high school that Ferry was first introduced to the sport where you chop and chainsaw your way through logs. It was not easy choosing this tough sport because Timbersport had not really taken off in Sweden. But it is big in New Zealand, Australia and North America while Germany, France and Belgium are leading the way in Europe.
The sport consists of six disciplines. Three using an axe; Springboard, Standing Block Chop and Underhand Chop, and three using a saw and chainsaw; Stock Saw, Single Buck and Hot Saw. The names do not reveal much about the sport, which requires muscle strength and stamina throughout and a good physique demands a dedicated athlete:
“I can’t live off the sport as of yet, but with Axelent behind me the door to opportunity has opened.”
Ferry trained for the Junior World Championships in New Zealand, a place to which he would willingly return today if he could. Not just because Timbersport is much bigger there, but also for the climate.
“I’ve long dreamed of moving there and training with the elite. A dream that could now be fulfilled with the help of Axelent.”
Ferry has already, as the youngest ever, won a Junior World Championship medal and a silver medal at the Nordic Championships. After eighth place and a considerably improved personal best during the Champions Trophy (seniors) in Marseille in May, it is now full focus on the Nordic Championships, to be decided in Danish Roskilde in early June.
We at Axelent are proud to sponsor Ferry Svan and look forward to following him in his pursuit of more medals.
Name: Ferry Svan
Family: Mother, father and older sister Julia.
Age: 21
Occupation: Trains Timbersport. Is on the Swedish national team.
Lives: Vansbro in Dalarna, Sweden
Medals: Nordic Championships: gold 2014 and 2016. Junior World Championships: gold 2017, silver in Senior Nordic Championships 2017.
More Timbersport: YouTube
