From Japan to Germany, "athletes" agree: sheep shearing is a real sport

Record ID: 1422118

  • Title: From Japan to Germany, "athletes" agree: sheep shearing is a real sport
  • Date: 5th July 2019
  • Summary: LE DORAT, FRANCE (JULY 5 2019) (REUTERS) SHEEP BEING SHAVED DURING WORLD SHEEP SHEARING CHAMPIONSHIP VARIOUS OF CITY OF LE DORAT WHERE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP IS TAKING PLACE VARIOUS OF SCULPTURE DEPICTING MAN SHEARING SHEEP AT ROUNDABOUT TOURIST TRAIN DRIVING BY CITY CENTRE
  • Embargoed: 19th July 2019 16:02
  • Keywords: sheep shearing world championship Le Dorat France sheep wool agriculture sports
  • Location: LE DORAT, FRANCE
  • City: LE DORAT, FRANCE
  • Country: France
  • Topics: Sport
  • Reuters ID: LVA001AMI6IC9
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:"Athletes" donning their countries' colours converged Friday (July 5) in France for an international sports meet - not the final of the Women's World Cup, but the World Sheep Shearing Championships.
    Amid growling razors and bleating sheep, many may raise eyebrows at the uncommon sport practiced by 300 sheep shearers, some of whom are professionals, hailing from 34 countries.
    But just like soccer, basketball and other international sporting events, sheep shearing is a real sport, too, shearers say.
    "It is hard to get it recognised as a sport compared to soccer, rugby, hockey," said President of Golden Shears World Council, Greg Herrick from New Zealand, who also oversees the rules of the competition. "But the more we have our world championships, it is starting to become recognised as a fantastic sport."
    Five-thousand sheep are set to be sheared in Le Dorat in central France as the four-day competition kicked off on Thursday (July 4) to crown the world's best shearers and wool handlers. A total of 50,000 people are expected to attend the event.
    Contestants must shave the fur of the sheep or ewe into a single piece of wool, and are judged on the speed, quality of shearing, and how the wool is cut.
    At the end of each round, judges check for marks, uncut fleeces and uneven levels of shearing.
    Physiotherapist Sandrine Boussin said sheep shearing, just like other professional sports, is physically demanding.
    "It is a high-level sport when it comes to at least the strength of the arms, the legs and the back," Boussin said. "You need to have excellent abdominal muscles.”
    But having a pot belly or a short stature does not matter too much when it comes to victory in contests. Sheep shearing is, after all, 80 percent technique, according to South African coach Isak Koppler, whose protege Mayenzeke Shweni took home the competition's blade-shearing trophy.
    Practice makes perfect, and just as well that most participants, many of whom are employed as shearers, are able to train at their day jobs, Koppler said.
    "Shearing is one of the few sports where you get paid to practice," he said. "So during the day, shearers shear from four to eight hours. This is practice, they don't have to go to the gym or anything afterwards."
    Japanese athlete Shun Oishi said that just like in other sports, participants learn from each other and are heartbroken over a loss or failure to advance in the competition, which he calls his "worst experience."
    But above all, sheep shearing is a humble job and those who do it are not there for the money, French coach Alain Bellard said.
    The final event of the championship on Sunday (July 7) will require contestants to shear 20 sheep within 12 to 16 minutes.
    (Production: Clotaire Achi, Emilie Delwarde, Ardee Napolitano)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register