StaplerCup 2026: New World Champions Crowned After Three Days of Thrills in Aschaffenburg
24 Oct 2026
From October 22 to 24, 2026, forklift professionals and sports fans from around the world turned their attention to Aschaffenburg: The best forklift operators gathered at the LINDE MH ARENA for the 21st StaplerCup Finals. More than 110 Forklift Heroes from 11 countries competed for the titles at the Forklift World Championship, and over 75,000 fans followed the three days of competition in person and via livestream. In two thrilling final rounds, Maren Schlabitz from Kiel and Jörg Klößinger from Oberdachstetten claimed the individual world championship titles. The Belgian national team won the team competition, while HELU GmbH from Hemmingen (Baden-Württemberg) took home the Corporate Cup. For the first time, the Finals were also streamed entirely in English for a growing international audience.
Aschaffenburg, Germany, October 24, 2026. Millimeter precision, nerves of steel and just the right pace: Those were the keys to victory at the 21st StaplerCup Finals. The course designers had largely reinvented the sporting challenges for 2026. Among other things, 2 of drivers had to master rolling and suspended elements such as the “Wrecking Balls” and the “Cable Drum Slider,” as well as new versions of the oversized steel seesaws known as the KAUP Hero Ramps.
Thursday’s Corporate Cup already showed how much the course designers had in store: In “Wrecking Balls,” kettlebells and a zip line demanded pinpoint precision, while in “Standing Discs,” the teams passed three discs of different sizes from forklift to forklift, carried them over the KAUP Hero Ramp and threaded them onto horizontal bars up to four meters (13 feet) high. In the semifinal and final, the teams had to transport beverage crates over the KAUP Hero Ramp and stack them on a truss tower. On Friday, the national teams picked up small rubber ducks from hooks and set them down on a target plate in the “Duck Lift,” and in the “Ball Drop,” they passed soccer balls along to a reach truck and dropped them into a column about five meters (16 feet) tall.
In the individual competitions for women and men, Round 1 called for a delicate touch in the “Mini Puzzle,” where drivers had to fit puzzle pieces through the matching cutouts of a template. In the “76” course, exactly that many golf balls sat on tees in a tray, and anyone who lost balls during the slalom picked up penalty seconds, including some of the top favorites. On Saturday, the “Automated Deadlifts” required drivers to assemble a barbell and set it down safely. The semifinals and finals were ultimately decided on the “Cable Drum Slider”: Drivers picked “cable drums” out of the air from a vertically suspended truss bar, sent them down a slide and maneuvered them over the KAUP Hero Ramp.
Rarely have the StaplerCup Finals been as wide open as they were this year: None of last year’s four winners managed to defend their title. Benjamin Danker missed the final by just a few meters, Swetlana Lattermann was knocked out in the semifinals, Team Germany stumbled over the barbell as early as Round 3, and ZF Friedrichshafen was eliminated from the Corporate Cup after the first round.
Instead, others wrote stories of their own: Veteran Jörg Klößinger capped his twelfth appearance with the world title, Maren Schlabitz won a close final duel at her very first StaplerCup in Aschaffenburg, and Belgium claimed the team title for the second time after 2024. In the finals, the smallest details made the difference between celebration and disappointment: a driving error, a slip on the KAUP Hero Ramp, a stack of crates that wouldn’t stay put. Three days, more than 110 drivers from eleven countries and more than 75,000 fans on site and via livestream have shown that forklift sport has long since arrived on the big international stage.
Jörg Klößinger from Oberdachstetten Is the 2026 Men’s Forklift World Champion
This year, 28 drivers from eight countries competed for the title of Men’s Forklift World Champion.
Experienced drivers dominated Friday’s two preliminary rounds: Defending champion Benjamin Danker, Jörg Klößinger in his 12th appearance and eight-time participant Carsten Diezel secured their spots in Round 3 with top times. StaplerCup newcomer Viktoras Omelčenko from Lithuania also made it through and earned a place in the top 10.
This year also saw the first dedicated Young Talents Qualifier, where the three best young drivers between 18 and 25 earned their spots at the Finals. Cedric Weingärtner, Jan Pirsc and Lorenz Regler took on the courses with great enthusiasm, but none of the young talents managed to break into the top 10 against the seasoned veterans.
In Round 3’s “Automated Deadlifts” course, the C-MATIC automated mobile platform delivered the plates for building the barbell, and the drivers fought a thrilling battle for the four semifinal spots. Two drivers fell victim to the outer course boundary, while the others delivered composed, nerveless runs. With an impressive best time of 3:38.0 minutes, top favorite Jörg Klößinger took first place, closely followed by defending champion Benjamin Danker, Patrick Reppert and Adnan Catic.
The semifinals and the final were contested on the “Cable Drum Slider.” Jörg Klößinger and Adnan Catic advanced to the final, while Benjamin Danker missed out by just a few meters and finished third, ahead of Patrick Reppert. In the battle for the men’s world title, Jörg Klößinger from Oberdachstetten prevailed after a driving error by Adnan Catic, earning a well-deserved crown as the 2026 Men’s Forklift World Champion.
Maren Schlabitz from Kiel wins the 2026 Women’s Forklift World Championship
Same courses, same requirements: In the Women’s Forklift World Championship, 16 drivers took on exactly the same tasks as the men.
Rebecca Wallner from Bremerhaven advanced to the next round in first place, more than three minutes ahead of Melanie Holl and Marleen Sinikas from Estonia. Defending champion Swetlana Lattermann narrowly made the cut, while several top favorites were knocked out by StaplerCup newcomers.
The “Automated Deadlifts” course brought plenty of drama to the women’s Round 3: Three drivers were disqualified for crossing the course boundary, and only five of ten finished the course without a fault. With the focus and care it took, four drivers earned a place in the semifinals: Jennifer Rieger, competing in her third StaplerCup Finals; Swetlana Lattermann, the 2025 world champion and 2024 runner-up; Katrin Knochenhauer, in her second Finals appearance; and StaplerCup newcomer Maren Schlabitz.
In the semifinals, the road ended for reigning world champion Swetlana Lattermann, while Maren Schlabitz and Jennifer Rieger confidently advanced to the final. There, Schlabitz kept her nerve and her focus in a close head-to-head duel against Rieger and, at her very first StaplerCup Finals, was crowned the 2026 Women’s Forklift World Champion.
Belgium Triumphs at the 2026 Team Forklift World Championship
Eleven national teams competed in the Team Forklift World Championship, including defending champion Germany as well as the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria and Slovakia.
A delicate touch and a keen eye earned the teams from Belgium and Germany top times in Rounds 1 and 2. Germany led the way in the “Duck Lift” with a top time of 3:25.10 minutes, a course in which several teams struggled with the little rubber ducks and failed to finish within the time limit. In the “Ball Drop,” Team Germany couldn’t hold on to first place, as the teams from Croatia, the Netherlands and Belgium were quicker to get the four balls into the columns. In the overall standings, Belgium advanced to Saturday’s Round 3 in first place, followed by Germany in second and the Netherlands in third.
In Round 3, clean handoffs and precise assembly of the barbell on the course known as “Deadlifts” decided who would reach the semifinals. Defending champion Germany, all but assured of a top-four spot with the best time, faltered when setting down the barbell and was eliminated in a stunning upset. Slovakia, the Netherlands, Belgium and Slovenia, on the other hand, posted excellent times with composed runs to reach the semifinals.
In the semifinals, the Slovenian and Belgian teams were the fastest and advanced to the final. There, the two teams were neck and neck for a long time, but on the KAUP Hero Ramp, the Slovenians’ tower of balls collapsed, clearing the way for the Belgians, who finished the course to loud cheers. After 2024, the team claimed the title of Team Forklift World Champion for the second time. Slovakia finished third, ahead of the Netherlands.
HELU Claims the 2026 Corporate Cup
On Thursday, 14 company teams had already kicked off the StaplerCup Finals. Year after year, the Corporate Cup brings together a who’s who of German industry. In 2026, the field included Continental, FRoSTA, Lorenz Snacks, CWS Workwear and defending champion ZF Friedrichshafen.
Round 1 featured the new “Wrecking Balls” course. Kuehne + Nagel mastered it with an impressive best time, but it wasn’t enough to reach the semifinals. In Round 2, the FRoSTA team, one of the favorites in the field, was the fastest to get the three discs of the “Standing Discs” course across the finish line. Defending champion ZF Friedrichshafen, by contrast, was unexpectedly eliminated in Round 1. That left HELU, Grüner Systemtechnik, FRoSTA and, in a surprise, the team from Kartoffelhof Hölck in the semifinals. The family-run company from Germany’s far north was competing at StaplerCup for the first time and was eager to take on the big names.
In the semifinals, the teams faced “Fourteen Crates.” Kartoffelhof Hölck stacked the beverage crates on the truss tower in 7:31.40 minutes and HELU in 7:57.20 minutes, posting the two fastest times and a place in the final. The other two semifinalists, Grüner Systemtechnik and FRoSTA, put in solid performances but were disqualified when their crate stacks collapsed as the forks were pulled out for the last time.
The two finalists, HELU and Kartoffelhof Hölck, went head to head for the championship title. Both once again brought their crates, now 16 of them, safely over the KAUP Hero Ramp, but only HELU managed to set the stack down securely on the truss tower. With a fantastic final time of 7:07.6 minutes, the HELU team was then celebrated in the LINDE MH ARENA as the 2026 Corporate Cup Champion.
Forklift Sports with Heart
Beyond the competition, giving back has always been a big part of StaplerCup: During the Finals, the charity association StaplerCup hilft e. V. raised donations through its charity raffle for the project “Pflegefamilien stärken. Zuhause schenken” (Strengthening Foster Families, Giving the Gift of a Home).
“The level of driving was incredibly high this year. The new courses demanded everything from the drivers and showed just how close together the world’s best now are,” said StaplerCup Sports Director Martin Stadtmüller.