Jason Wynyard has come back from the brink of quitting his wood chopping career for good and is ready to give a record tenth world championship title one last crack.
"I have an opportunity. I have the drive. I know what to do. All I can do is put the best of myself out there and give myself the best chance," Wynyard told The Hui.
Since 2018, the 48-year-old has battled debilitating pain after three decades at the top of timber sports. The intensity of competitive wood chopping has resulted in Wynyard battling back and shoulder injuries and crippling osteoarthritis in his right hip.
"As soon as you open your eyes, you've just got this horrible pain deep down inside your hip and it just doesn't go away."
But even though he was at rock bottom, Wynyard refused to give up on the sport he loves and took a chance on stem cell treatment and potentially risky surgery in 2020.
"I remember going under with the surgeon and he said to me, 'Look, you realise if we get in there and the bone's not dense enough, we're going to have to do a full hip replacement'. Which would have meant the end of my wood chopping. I woke up out of the anaesthetic and the best thing I heard from the surgeon was, 'We were able to do your resurfacing', and then I knew I could possibly make a comeback out of that," Wynyard said.
And he's gone from barely being able to walk to now smashing his personal bests.
"I have a three-day-a-week heavy gym session, combined with my weekend work wood chopping. I've got to really be careful because I tend to overtrain and then run myself into illness. I'm feeling really good right now so I'm going to have to really stick to the programme," he said.
Wynyard clawed his way back into world championship contention at the Timbersports National Championships at Kumeu showgrounds in March. He was back on the winner's podium looking like he'd never been away.
But then weeks later, before his next competition in Sydney, Wynyard, an asthmatic, was dealt another blow - COVID-19 - which led to lacklustre performance and was a major setback in his training.
"Catching a disease that affects your cardiovascular system right before that contest was definitely not ideal. I went back to zero with my fitness almost, so that was really frustrating for me. But I'm pretty determined. I just kept working and I put some good people around me, so I think that's helped my cause a lot," he said.
Close friend and former national selector Terry Hohneck said Wynyard has got what it takes to secure a record-breaking tenth world championship.
"He's won more than anyone else, so you'd never write that off, and he knows what it is like to go overseas amongst the best in the world and win that. So I think his chances are right up there," Hohneck said.
The World Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden on October 28-29, 2022, is unfinished business for the elite axeman and realistically his last shot at the top title.
"At times, it kind of seemed like I may never, ever get the opportunity again. The desire that I had as a 12-year-old hasn't changed. I still desire to be the best that I can possibly be," Wynyard said.
Made with support from Te Māngai Pāho and the Public Interest Journalism Fund.
