SALT LAKE CITY – The 2022 edition of the Utah Days of ’47 Rodeo came to a close on Monday night, July 25, with gold, silver and bronze medals handed out. The Utah Days of ’47 Rodeo is the Only Gold Medal Rodeo in the World and featured a total of 288 competitors that competed for a share of the $562,500 in prize money.
The women’s breakaway roping is the fastest growing event in rodeo right now, and it was by far the quickest event on the night. Josie Conner of Iowa, LA, won the gold medal in record fashion. Conner broke Jackie Crawford’s arena record, set on opening night, stopping the clock in 1.85 seconds to win her first gold medal. She had competed at this rodeo each year breakaway has been offered, but this is the first time she stood on the medal platform.
“I love this rodeo, and last year when I missed it lit a fire under me and totally changed my roping,” said Conner following her win. “I look up to Jackie but was so glad to get the record tonight. It was a long time coming.”
The third time was definitely the charm. Crawford, who has also competed all three years in Salt Lake City, captured her third silver medal after stopping the clock in 2.36 seconds. Taylor Hanchey, who made history being the first WPRA member to qualify for the National Finals Rodeo as a barrel racer and breakaway roper, won the bronze with a time of 2.42 seconds.
Taylor’s husband Shane Hanchey won the gold medal in the tie-down roping in a time of 8.65 seconds. Nate Baldwin of Blackfoot, ID, took the silver in 9.12 seconds.
The full field of 32 competitors in each of the events of bareback riding, steer wrestling, team roping, saddle bronc riding, tie-down roping, breakaway roping, barrel racing and bull riding were divided into four groups of eight each and competed in one of the first four performances (July 20-23). The one (1) highest score/fastest time from each discipline of each performance advanced to the Gold Medal Round, along with the three (3) highest scores/fastest times overall from all four combined Semi-Final performances that have not yet advanced. In addition, the #1 ranked athlete in each discipline (for team roping, it is the highest ranked team after pairing) of the final audited standings of the WCRA Days of ’47 Rodeo Leaderboard automatically qualified for the Gold Medal Round, making a total of eight (8) contestants in each discipline that competed in the Gold Medal Round. Scores/times from the Semi-Final performances did NOT carry forward to the Gold Medal Round (only to break ties). The eight competitors in each event in the Gold Medal Round competed in a sudden-death format, with the winner collecting a Gold Medal and $25,000 cash.
Utah had several cowboys to cheer on and cheered two to gold medal performances. Cash Robb of Altonah won the steer wrestling gold medal in 4.38 seconds. Saddle bronc rider Allen Boore also brought home the gold for the Beehive State with an 86.5-point ride aboard Sankey Rodeo’s Big Bay. Boore hails from Axtell, and this was his first medal.
The Utah Days of ’47 Rodeo, presented by Zions Bank, is taking place at the $17.5 million state-of-the-art Days of ’47 Arena at the Utah State Fairpark, custom designed and built for rodeo. The venue—an outdoor arena located in the heart of Salt Lake City—features over 10,000 stadium-style seats.
Jordon Briggs won her first gold buckle in December, and now she has a gold medal to add to her collection. Briggs of Tolar, Texas, rode her world champion horse Rollo to the win stopping the clock in 17.195 seconds, to outrun Stevi Hillman with a 17.220 and last year’s gold medalist Wenda Johnson with a 17.266.
Another set of world champions took home the gold medal in the team roping. Kaleb Driggers and Junior Nogueira stopped the clock in 4.06 seconds to take home the gold. Andrew Ward and Buddy Hawkins were silver in 4.36.
RC Landingham is one step closer to becoming a millionaire. Landingham of Hat Creek, California, won the bareback riding with a 90.5-point ride aboard Championship Pro Rodeo’s Frontier Coffee’s Hooey Rocks. This was Landingham’s second consecutive win in the WCRA, so if he can win one more time, he will become their first million-dollar Triple Crown bonus winner. World Champion Tim O’Connell won silver with an 88.5 aboard Sankey Rodeo’s Silver Screen.
Cole Fisher closed out the night and this year’s event in bull riding with a 90-point ride on Championship Pro Rodeo’s Geronimo. Fisher was the first bull rider out and set the bar high on a previously unridden bull. Deklan Garland took silver with an 89.5 on Macza’s OLS Tubs Ugly Wish.
For only the seventh time in rodeo history, riders had the opportunity to compete for Gold, Silver or Bronze Medals. The first two times were in conjunction with the Olympic Winter Games in Calgary (1988) and Salt Lake City (2002), when rodeo was part of the Cultural Olympiad, and the other four times were the Days of ’47 Cowboy Games and Rodeo 2017-2021. 2022 marks an official name change of the event to Utah Days of ’47 Rodeo. This was the third time for breakaway ropers as their event was added to the roster in 2019. The medals awarded at the Utah Days of ’47 Rodeo were produced by OC Tanner, the same company that made the Olympic medals for the champions of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games.
CBS will air the Gold Medal Round of the Utah Days of ’47 Rodeo on July 31 at 11 a.m. MT.
