Fort Worth, Texas – In anticipation of the upcoming 2024 Women's Rodeo World Championship (WRWC), the world's richest women's only rodeo, taking place from May 13-18 across the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, the organization has released the final list of 172 female rodeo athletes who will be competing in the event.
The WRWC is the largest event purse in the history of women’s rodeo. It will pay out $750,000 in 2024 while crowning World Champions in both the Pro and Challenger classifications in the following disciplines: team roping (heading and heeling), breakaway roping and barrel racing.
The fifth edition of the WRWC will begin inside the historic Cowtown Coliseum in Fort Worth, Texas, from May 13-16, with the Championship Round to be held on May 18 inside AT&T Stadium, home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, in nearby Arlington, Texas. The Championship Round, taking place alongside the 2024 PBR World Finals – Championship, will crown a WRWC event champion in each discipline, with the victors earning the lion’s share of the historic $750,000 purse.
The roster is highlighted by 2023 All-Around Cowgirl, Martha Angelone (Stephenville, Texas). Angelone earned the ultimate cowgirl accolade last season by accumulating WCRA (World Champions Rodeo Alliance) leaderboard points, then putting an exclamation point on the world all-around race with an impressive showing at the 2023 WRWC. With more than $270,000 in WCRA earnings alone, Angelone is one of the winningest cowgirls in the event’s history. In 2023, she won $89,400 and has a shot at another $120,000 in 2024, as she could strike in both the breakaway and team roping.
Angelone has won three WRWC titles so far. She won the first championship in 2022 in an intense breakaway roping competition, which is considered one of the most ferocious battles in WRWC history, twice invoking the tie-breaker decision en route to the title. In 2023, she won two more titles, riding supreme in both the team roping (heading) and claiming her second title as the world all-around champion.
Angelone will be joined by two-time WRWC Champion Jackie Crawford (Stephenville, Texas) in the team roping. In 2023 the duo had fans inside the historic Cowtown Coliseum on the edge of their seat as they were second to run, earning a remarkable 7.08-second time. Crawford earned nearly $63,000 in the week.
The roster will also showcase Kelsie Domer (Stephenville, Texas). In 2023, Domer’s grit and determination were evident before the Texas resident even stepped foot inside Cowtown Coliseum, giving birth to her daughter Oaklynn just a few months prior.
Domer advanced to the 2023 WRWC by earning one of the two coveted berths via the Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ), Domer earned first-place in the LCQ by a slim one-one-hundredth of a second.
She continued to make waves throughout the event, continuing to turn heads as she advanced to the Championship Round. Backing into the box last, only needing to make a clean run fewer than 4.47 seconds, Domer delivered a groundbreaking performance, as the string broke away from her saddle horn at an impressive 2.16-second time. Domer was presented her event championship check with her daughter, walking away from the event with $61,000.
Cheyenne Wimberley (Stephenville, Texas) will again headline the 2024 WRWC roster in barrel racing. After two arena records were broken, barrel racing was a shootout for the $60,000 event champion in 2023. After making her WRWC debut as an event alternate on the pro leaderboard, Wimberly’s jaw-dropping 13.105 push through the Cowtown Coliseum course propelled her to the top, earning her the title of 2023 WRWC barrel racing event champion.
In addition to the 172 qualified athletes from the W24 leaderboard and Qualifier Series Generic Qualifications, cowgirls from around the nation will compete at APHA’s (American Paint Horse Associations) Cowgirl Gathering May 9–12 in Fort Worth, Texas. Cowgirl Gathering will serve as WRWC’s Last Chance Qualifier and give up to 64 athletes the opportunity to earn a qualification to the richest week of women’s rodeo. All athletes competing at the Cowgirl Gathering can enter the WRWC Last Chance Qualifier in the NextGen Rodeo App.
Please click here to view the complete roster. The full schedule and advancement chart are also available here.
Each WRWC event champion will earn a minimum of $60,000, while the All-Around Champion will collect a $20,000 bonus. The WRWC is a culmination of a year-long race of women’s rodeo events worldwide.
The complete schedule of events is as follows:
May 13: Round 1: All Disciplines (2 p.m. CT @ Cowtown Coliseum)
May 14: Round 2: All Disciplines (10 a.m. CT @ Cowtown Coliseum)
May 15: Semi-Finals: All Disciplines (9 a.m. CT @ Cowtown Coliseum)
May 16: Showdown Round: Breakaway, Team Roping (10 a.m. CT @ Cowtown Coliseum)
May 18: Championship Round: All Disciplines (7:45 p.m. CT @ AT&T Stadium)
Fans will be able to watch the action daily on Cowgirl Channel, Cowboy Channel, Cowboy Channel + App and PBR RidePass on Pluto TV. The landmark event’s Championship Round on May 18 from AT&T Stadium will then be featured LIVE on CBS Sports Network during the telecast for the PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast – Championship.
The 2024 Women’s Rodeo World Championship event is part of the second Women’s Rodeo World Championship Week, the richest women’s-only week of competition in Western sports, held during the 2024 PBR World Finals. The more than week-long schedule of events is slated to pay out $1.145 million in prize money, affording more than 800 women’s competitors the chance to compete for life-changing payouts.
Since launching in May 2020, the WRWC has awarded more than $3 million in new money to women's rodeo athletes. For more information about the WRWC visit wrwc.rodeo.
Photo courtesy of WRWC
