SPRINGVILLE, NY. (WKBW) — In the world of sports, you're bound to meet athletes, including world champions, but it's not every day you meet a Timbersport world champion. That's until Springville's Mark Bouquin comes into the picture.
“It’s kind of funny because the history of this sport, there’s a lot of competitors who are multi-generational, so they start when they're pretty young," Bouquin told 7 Sports. "Which is great, but me, I didn’t have that and didn’t know about the sport until I was in college, and it was a collegiate sport.”
While at Paul Smith College in the Adirondacks, Mark Bouquin found a new passion, Timbersports. It has now taken the 35-year-old around the globe, thanks to his recognition years ago that with a little hard work, he might be able to have a future in this.
"If I try really hard and invest in this sport, I feel like I can maybe do something with it," Bouquin said.
Out of college, he started appearing on network TV shows that showed off his lumberjack abilities. Soon, with every chop, cut, and saw, he worked his way up in the sport and finally became a world champion last year.
"I was shaking, I was shaking so bad I couldn’t believe it," Bouquin said. "I didn’t even know I won at first, but then people started coming up to me and shaking my hand, and I was like, did I actually do it?"
What made the world title even better for Bouquin was knowing that just four years prior, a moment like that seemed to be impossible.
“In 2020, I developed AFib, long story short, ended up going to the hospital, and they had to put me under and cardiovert (Cardioversion) me with paddles and essentially restart my heart," he said. "It took me, unfortunately, several years to get back to where I needed to be. Physically and mentally. I’m finally there now, and the hard work is showing off, and I can see it in these events and stuff.”
Bouquin’s journey has been filled with highs and lows, but he’ll be the first to tell you that conquering the lows made those highs feel even more incredible.
“You never think you’re where you need to be," he said. "There’s always room for improvement; you can always get better. Because I’ve been trying to fight to get back to where I was and get to a point where I’m competitive again. And to realize I’m finally there. I didn’t think I’d get there.”
Up next for Mark, the Lumberjack World Championships are coming up in Mid-July in Hayward, Wisconsin, where he’ll defend his Single Buck title.
