Invercargill will host the world's best shearers and woolhandlers in February next year.
The World Shearing and Woolhandling Championships will be held at the ILT Stadium Southland on February 9-11.
It will be the 17th time the championships have been held and the 40th anniversary of the first which were held in England in 1977.
About 160 competitors, from about 30 countries, including from such far-flung places as Mongolia, Estonia and Iceland, were expected to compete.
Organising the championships was a massive effort but there was a great team behind it that was very experienced at running competitions, New Zealand Shearing Foundation chairman Tom Wilson said.
About 4500 sheep were needed and they had to be the "right type''.
Some had been sourced already, but they were still looking for more.
It was Mr Wilson, shearing legend Sir David Fagan, and Gavin Rowland, from Shearing Sports New Zealand, who made the bid at the last world championships to hold the 2017 event in New Zealand.
It was a tough job to convince the world council - Northern Ireland was also keen to host it - but they managed to "get it over the line'', he said.
Mr Wilson was involved with the world championships in Scotland in 2003.
He also won the world championships in 1984 and teamed up with George Bayne to win the team championship in 1996.
He loved the competitive nature of the sport and also all facets of the industry.
"If you leave it for a few months, you want to get back into it. It's one of those addictive things.''
Next year's world championships will not be solely a shearing and woolhandling competition.
There will be a huge number of trade exhibits and an expo to promote wool.
Hopefully, there would be "something for everyone'' and it would attract both tourists and locals, not just the shearing fraternity, he said.
Support from the local community had been "just unbelievable'' and trade space bookings were being made already.
The New Zealand Shearing Foundation, now a registered charity, would continue after the championships.
Hopefully, with funds generated, it would be able to support other shearing events and give back to the industry, he said.