Woman Wins Two Open Shearing Titles Months After Injury

Just months ago, Nicki Guttler couldn't walk across her house without sitting down. Now she's rewriting the record books.

The 32-year-old from Australia's Riverina region is believed to be the first woman in the world to win both open machine shearing and open blade shearing titles at the same event. She clinched both victories at the 150th Forbes Show, competing against men and women in the sport's highest division.

"I'm still struggling to find the words," Guttler said. "I feel relieved and stoked and proud."

The victory was even sweeter considering where she was earlier this year. Bulging discs in her lower back compressed her sciatic nerve, leaving her unable to perform basic tasks like putting on socks or getting dressed.

Sitting hurt. Standing hurt. Walking from room to room became impossible without rest breaks.

After two years of recovery, Guttler decided it was time to pick up the shears again. As the final seconds ticked down in the open shearing final, she thought of her late grandmother for inspiration.

"I thought if I'm going to do it, it's going to be now and we're going to do it for Nana," she said.

Guttler's mother taught her to shear, and she's been competing since school. She worked her way up from novice classes to the opens, previously breaking the eight-hour women's solo lamb record by shearing 450 lambs and becoming Australia's first woman to win an open speed shear.

Why This Inspires

Women make up less than 5 percent of the shearing workforce, and Guttler has faced plenty of doubts along the way. People questioned whether a woman could compete at the highest level in this physically demanding sport.

She never called herself a "female shearer," just a shearer. Now her achievement is proving what's possible to the young women watching her career.

"I just hope to keep carving the path for them so that other people believe in them rather than just seeing them as a young girl who's not capable of something," Guttler said.

Sports Shear NSW treasurer Carla Boland says the organization is seeing more women entering the sport. Results like Guttler's show there's a pathway all the way to open competition, the highest grade in sports shearing.

The shearing community has been competing since the late 1800s, with competitors racing against the clock to prove they're the fastest and most accurate. Guttler just showed that determination can overcome both injury and outdated assumptions about who belongs in the shearing shed.