Olympic sports and farming don’t usually come together very often. (If you’re like me, you haven’t even had time to watch the summer Olympic games because of all the work that needs to be done outside.) But when it really comes down to it, Olympic athletes and farmers have quite a few things in common: They work hard, they’re determined and they take great pride in their achievements.
Perhaps that’s why last night, a 21-year-old pig farmer from New Paris, Ohio, took home the Bronze in the 800-meter track-and-field event. Clayton Murphy ran the race in 1 minute 42.93 seconds, making him the third-fastest in American history, according to an article on Yahoo! Sports.
But besides being a good runner, he’s a damn good farmer, too. Murphy grew up on a 37-acre farm about an hour outside of Cincinnati and raised blue ribbon-winning pigs for shows at local fairs.
“Clayton loved to show the pigs,” his father, Mark Murphy said in an interview with Runner’s World. “And I can tell you, he is just as good a pig salesman as he is a runner.”
Fortunately, the farm will be there for Murphy to come home to, but for now, he’s in Rio representing America in Olympic glory.
