Debbie Clissold doesn’t mind having the odds stacked against her.
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She wears the tag of David with pride.
There will be a number of Goliaths when the 41-year-old competes at the Stihl Timbersports 2018 Australian Championships on the Gold Coast this weekend.
At the top of the list of competitors to beat will be Amanda Beams who took out the inaugural women’s title last year.
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But the people she has to beat isn’t playing on Clissold’s mind. She’s focused on nailing the three disciplines – underhand chop (axe), stock saw (chainsaw) and single buck (saw) – at the championships.
“I like to be the underdog. All you gotta do is be consistent. You don’t have to win each event. You just have to be consistent,” Clissold said.
“Anything can happen on the day, it really can.
I like to be the underdog. All you gotta do is be consistent. You don’t have to win each event. You just have to be consistent.
- Debbie Clissold
“Any one of the girls can win it and any one of the girls can lose it.”
When Clissold says that, she’s talking about the margin for error.
There is close to none.
In such a high pressure sport, that can be over in the blink of an eye, every second counts.
“If you make a mistake in any one of those three [disciplines], you're pretty much not going to go through,” Clissold said.
Clissold started in timbersports “about four years ago” after watching her husband compete.
After getting “sick of sitting on the sidelines all day”, she picked up an axe and saw and hasn’t looked back.
Clissold will compete for a piece of the total prize pool – $100,000 in cash and prizes – at the championships.
More than 30 athletes, including women, men and rookies (under 25), will fight it out at the Broadwater Parklands in Southport.
The finals for all three events will all be held on Sunday.
