It’s not pressure, but a sense that I need to live up to the expectations that I’ve put on myself. – Bareback rider Tim O’Connell
SALT LAKE CITY — Everything changes when you achieve your dreams at 24.
At least they did for bareback rider Tim O’Connell, who not only won his first World Championship in December but also set a record, in 2016, for the most money ever earned in a season by a bareback rider.
“As a young child, you don’t just say, 'I want to go to the NFR,'" he said after tying for Wednesday night’s highest score in the bareback riding with 87.5 points. “It’s ‘OK, I want to be a world champion.’ So to accomplish my life-long goal, I really had to re-focus and re-dedicate myself to ‘Well, where do you go from here?’”
Where he went was right back to being one of the top bareback riders in the world. The 25-year-old from Iowa is currently No. 1 in the world standings, and he plans “to win a lot more.”
While he did a lot of soul-searching, he said it isn't pressure he feels in the chute but a deeper responsibility to himself, his fans and the sport.
“It’s not pressure, but a sense that I need to live up to the expectations that I’ve put on myself,” said O’Connell. “Every time I nod my head, I want to be the best version of myself, you know, I feel the fans deserve that as well. I feel it’s your responsibility as a world champion to act like and ride like a world champion every time you nod your head.”
O’Connell’s tie with rookie Tanner Phipps, who earned his 87.5 points on a re-ride, means both men advance to Monday's championship round where the winner will earn $50,000 and a gold medal.
The Days of ’47 Rodeo offers an unusual amount of prize money in an unusual format.
“You know what that amount of money is going to do to our standings,” O’Connell said. ‘There is not a rodeo that pays up $50,000 to the winner. …You’re talking about the average at the NFL. This is a huge event, by far the biggest event of the season.”
In fact, in the current standings, $50,000 would put a cowboy in the top 15 earners, which would qualify him for the National Finals Rodeo.
But a cowboy can't win without an equally talented bucking horse. O’Connell felt fortunate to draw a great horse in Misplaced Insanity, but that wasn’t the only thing that had him feeling lucky. An entry mistake meant he almost didn’t get to ride in the Days of ’47 Rodeo.
“Someone got hurt, and then I got the spot,” he said. “I was pretty distraught when I found out I did not get in. There were a lot of phone calls made to the PRCA to try and figure out how to get back in, and basically what it boils down to is that was my only way in.”
He said he regretted someone else had to suffer an injury for him to earn a place in Wednesday’s rodeo, but he just tried to make the best of it. He said he’d only seen videos of Misplaced Identity before Wednesday.
“That horse is pretty phenomenal,” he said smiling. In fact, the winner of the Nephi rodeo earned his top score on the same horse.
“I was really excited,” O’Connell said. “I feel so blessed; what a great animal. …He was really good, I mean, everything a guy could want. …All around it was fantastic.”
Utah bull rider Joe Frost, who is currently ranked No. 3 in the world, had a bit of bad luck in his quest to make it into Monday’s championship round. The Randlett resident took a re-ride after his first bull didn’t perform well, as Washington native Shane Proctor had earned an 89.5. Three-time world champion Sage Steele Kimzey then earned 85 points.
In order to advance, Proctor needed to match or beat 85 points. He earned an 84.5 on his re-ride. His brother, Josh, who is currently 19th in the standings missed making the eight-second whistle by less than a second.
The performance began with a 45-minute dedication ceremony that included skydivers, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and addresses from Utah Gov. Gary Herbert and LDS Apostle M. Russell Ballard.