LINCOLN, Neb. – There were multiple times during the PBR Cooper Tires Invitational where Thiago Salgado could be seen slowly rotating or massaging his right shoulder.
Salgado’s unstable right shoulder has progressively gotten worse during the final few months of the season, and it is at the point where the 19-year-old knows he needs to undergo reconstructive surgery after the season.
It had gotten so bad in recent weeks that Salgado even wondered if he should possibly shut down his season and just get the surgery ASAP. Instead, Salgado committed himself to trying to push through the pain and qualify for his first PBR World Finals on Nov. 3-7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Salgado is now one step closer following his 1-for-2, 14th-place performance this weekend in Lincoln, Nebraska. Salgado’s 86.5-point ride on Reckless Red help net the youngster 14 world points and inch him up one spot in the world standings to No. 36.
“My shoulder is not good at all,” Salgado said with the help of Paulo Crimber translating. “I know I need to have it fixed right after the Finals. I have been trying to forget about it and do my job as best I can to finish the season strong.”
The world standings cutoff for the 2021 PBR World Finals is No. 37 in the world standings right now with two riders inside the Top 35 already ruled out for Las Vegas – No. 24 Alex Cerqueira (In Brazil) and No. 26 Colten Fritzlan (shoulder surgery).
Salgado leads No. 38 Adriano Salgado, his brother, by 19 points in the world standings ahead of next weekend’s 2021 Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Finals, the last event before the world rankings are solidified prior to the World Finals.
Race to Qualify for the 2021 PBR World Finals
No. 35 Cody Nance (198.16 world points)
No. 36 Thiago Salgado (198)
No. 37 Taylor Toves (187)
No. 38 Adriano Salgado (-8 points behind No. 37)
No. 39 Fernando Henrique Novais (-17 points)
No. 40 Lucas Divino (-21 points)
To try and learn how to ride with the unstable shoulder, Salgado met with a man who is no stranger to qualifying for the World Finals with multiple shoulder injuries – nine-time World Finals qualifier Fabiano Vieira.
The two men are in the same prayer group in Decatur, Texas, and Vieira offered Salgado the opportunity last week to come to his ranch and learn some techniques on how to adjust his free arm positioning to try and help prevent hs shoulder from dislocating during a bull ride.
“I was at Fabiano’s this past week and I spent about two days with him, and he showed me some stuff that has helped me a bunch,” Salgado said. “He put me on a drop barrel and showed me where to put my arm close to my body. This seems to help me some.”
Fans can watch the 2021 Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Finals exclusively on RidePass on Pluto TV.
Salgado says he is worried less about the intense battle to qualify for the World Finals, but rather it has been the pain in his shoulder that has been his biggest concern.
“There is not a lot of pressure about where I am, but rather it was more like I was not trusting my shoulder and my head was kind of messed up,” Salgado concluded. “I now feel a little bit back in the groove.”
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media