Logging world champion Ricardo Michalik (25) in his garden in Wiesenburg (Potsdam-Mittelmark) Photo: Olaf Selchow
By Sara Orlos Fernandes
He felled his first tree at the age of twelve and was crowned world champion at the age of 25. Ricardo Michalik (25) from Wiesenburg (Potsdam/Mittelmark) is champion of the forest workers.
Michalik was born with enthusiasm for wood and chainsaws. He spends his childhood in the family forest and learns from grandpa and father at an early age. “I was twelve when I felled the first tree in my grandfather’s chainsaw trousers, which were much too large,” he says. It wasn’t planned that his hobby would turn into a sport.
Ricardo Michalik (25) at the World Championships in Estonia. Here he saws off a tree disc Photo: World Logging Championship
During his training as a forester, his teacher saw a certain talent in him. So he slipped into the sport in 2016. This was followed by being drafted into the German national team and the first competitions. Ricardo: “At first I didn’t want to and now I’m world champion. I’m incredibly proud and didn’t expect it.”
That’s how the competition went
At the World Logging Championship in Estonia from April 19th to 22nd, he was able to win gold in the combined average in the U-24 group and prevailed against 17 participants from countries such as Austria, Norway, Poland and Japan.
In the discipline, two trunks must be cut from above and below into slices three to eight centimeters thick. “The cuts must meet in the middle,” explains the tree expert. On top of that, there was silver in precision pruning and bronze in pruning at his first participation in the World Championships.
Gold, silver and bronze for the man from Brandenburg. At his first World Cup in Estonia, Michalik really cleaned up Photo: World Logging Championship
Michalik is already practicing hard every day for the upcoming World Cup. As a forester in the Bad Belzig state forester’s office, he also regularly uses the chainsaw on the job – and as is well known, practice makes perfect.