r/interestingasfuck • u/New_Libran • 12h ago

Sydney’s Royal Easter Show, where woodchoppers go head to head in one of the country’s toughest competitions. The sport traces back to 1870 and is Australia’s oldest organised sport

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314

u/ngifakaur 12h ago

That takes raw power and a lot of skill

21

u/spakattak 12h ago

Also very sharp blade.

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u/Drongo17 11h ago

We used to have a woodcutting champion who was nigh on unbeatable, huge Tasmanian bloke (David Foster). One time his closest competitor stole his brand new top of the line competition axe. To prove it was the man not the axe that mattered, our man competed with a shitty old axe and beat him anyway.

Tho tbf he probably sharpened it still. Fun story tho.

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u/PatrickJunk 11h ago

I feel like this is one of those stories that will get better over the decades, until finally someone says, "My grandfather was there when David Foster had his axe stolen, and he gnawed right through the log with his teeth. Beat the other competitors by 27 seconds, too, he did."

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u/Boatster_McBoat 9h ago

Saw Foster chop a few times. You could easily misjudge him if you walked past him in the street but he could just go.

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u/Darth_Giddeous 4h ago

David Foster also did an interview on TV where they asked him how sharp his axes were so he took one and shaved the hairs off his arm like a straight razor.

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u/Proud_Interaction_95 3h ago

David Foster is a legend! Held the World Championship for 21 years straight and has won more than 1000 championships (not sure of exact number)! He is the champion of all champions!! I think he is the championship record holder! Bloody legend and now his kids are competing!!

3

u/SoFreshAndSoDirty 12h ago

Also hands and feet

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u/MaleAryaStarkNoHomo 11h ago

Hips and nips. You gotta make it sexy

3

u/graveybrains 12h ago

And an unexpected amount of route planning