A wife and husband's hobby of axe throwing is taking them to the World Championships at the Fox Cities Exhibition Center in Downtown Appleton Wisconsin from December 1-4. 

Kendra and Nick Kolomyja are competitive axe throwers who have been throwing for about 6 years now. According to Nick this year is a lot different compared to last year's competition.

"This year for me, I know is different. My confidence levels are a lot higher. My practicing strategy has changed a bit. Being comfortable has really built my confidence and I'm feeling pretty good about it."

The couple has attended many tournaments throughout the season. So far, Nick has one big win that he was able to capture in Fargo North Dakota that gave him a confidence boost. Kendra is in the same boat as Nick, she has changed her routine.

"For me after Worlds last year, I definitely changed my strategy. I did a bit of a hard reset on my actual throwing style. For me this year, it's been more of a rebuilding year where I'm learning new ways to throw and hopefully going to get it to a point where it improves a lot. It was sort of a transition that I made after Worlds last year just seeing where we were at."

Another difference between this year and last year is to participate in the World Championships this year, they needed to meet certain criteria and rules, and at the time, there was not a spot in Alberta that met those rules and criteria. So according to Kendra, they had to do some work to get their practice space in the garage to make sure it was in tip-top shape.

"To be able to keep competing, we had to revamp our practice space. We made sure we went through met all the criteria, had everything right up to spec so that it met all of that criteria."

If they did not make these changes to their personal practice space, the closest place to train in an area that was qualified was Montana.

With multiple family friends that are also axe throwers also competing, with all of them practicing together, the level of competition has only gotten better and better.

Kendra mentioned the axe-throwing community is so caring for each other, you are basically cheering for your opponent.

"Even when you beat somebody, or when you lose to somebody, you're still going to hug them after the match, you're still gonna pat them on the back, you're still rooting for everybody. There's such camaraderie in the sport."

The goal for this world championship for the couple is a top 50 place for Kendra and to win it all for Nick.

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