New Zealand's sheep shearing competition

This is a famous competition in New Zealand. It's about cutting or 'shearing' the wool from a sheep. The competition started in 1961. The men and women come from different countries.

Sheep-shearing is an important sport. Keryn Herbert shears sheep.

Keryn Herbert: "If you look at a lot of people who do the competitions in New Zealand in shearing and wool handling, I guarantee you at school, they were probably top sports people too."

For Joel Henare, it's not just about your body. It's about your mind too.

Joel Henare: "You need to be fit, yeah, but, in your body physically, but you also need to have the mental strength as well to be able to pull you through, yeah, so you got everything locked down."

The competition happens every year. It lasts three days. Each person has to shear 20 sheep. Lots of people watch in the stadium. And 70,000 watch online.

It's important to take off the wool in the right way. You can't cut the animal or the person.

Gavin Mutch is from Scotland.

Gavin Mutch: "The sudden burst of intensity you have to have, it's, yeah, it's unbelievable pressure put on your body and the energy levels you use."

The competition isn't just about people like Mutch. It's about the 'wool handlers' too. They work hard, like the cutters. The wool handlers take away the wool. They understand wool and work very fast. And they can win a prize here too.

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