Described as the Olympics for lumberjacks, Hayward’s Lumberjack World Championship is no joke.

The unique event is a Wisconsin staple and keeps the best athletes coming back year after year.

“This is Wisconsin. Like, this is such a Wisconsin thing. Wisconsin is the perfect venue to have the most amazing lumberjack competition in the world,” said Shana Verstegen, a 37 year participant. “Every year it’s so meaningful. As I started coming as a little seven-year-old kid, and would get so nervous, and now as an older athlete, it’s just fun to hear the crowd cheer, and everybody gets so excited about these sports that are so valuable to us.”

Athletes like Verstegen come back year after year, but never quite get rid of the nerves before and even during the competition.

“Log rolling is especially stressful because you’re in a log that’s 12 inches in diameter in the middle of the water in front of thousands of people, and if you take one little misstep, your competition’s over,” said Verstegen. “So there’s a lot of nerves that we have to fight through, but we’ve been training all year for this.”

“This is my sixth year competing professionally in log rolling and the nerves definitely never go away,” said Livi Pappadopoulos, who has competed at the world championships for eleven years. “You’re out on a spinning log with several thousand people watching you and your job is to stay on longer than your opponent, which seems pretty easy if you’re at it for a while and you’re really talented and skilled. However, it is so nerve-wracking to be out there trying to stay on that log and if you fall in your opponent is standing over you.”

Events range from log rolling and boom running to speed pole climbing, axe throwing, and sawing.

One thing that each event has in common, the excitement in each athlete when the time comes to showcase their skills.

“My entire calendar year revolves around the Lumberjack World Championships,” said Pappadopoulos. “I train for it all year long and most importantly I look forward to it all year long. I just love being here. It’s a magical place and a really cool atmosphere. A great community here in Hayward and some really fantastic athletes that come up to compete.”