I see that breakdancing made it for the first time as an Olympic sport in the recently completed games in Paris. They left my favorite sport, baseball, off the list again because it isn’t exactly a national pastime in France.

Watching the Olympic games and the myriads of activities that qualified as sports for the Paris games made me think about and imagine if rodeo and ranching were Olympic sports. What would that look like?

Rodeo events like steer wrestling, saddle bronc or bull riding, team roping and barrel racing all would make fine Olympic events. I’m guessing rodeo athletes from Nebraska and our surrounding Great Plains and Western states would be well represented in rodeo events at the Olympics. But there are rodeo athletes from around the world, so in many ways, rodeo has become an international sport.

Ranch Olympics

But how about more day-to-day ranching duties? Could they make the Olympic list?

I might qualify in a fence-fixing event if it took place in a creek in rising water, and you had to dodge snapping turtles, logs, weeds and debris in the process. In a timed event, I’ve been known to be quick on the draw with my pliers in the middle of the creek, trying to string a wire or two to keep the cows inside the fence. It could be an individual or team event, but it might be difficult to find a venue to hold this kind of activity, especially in Paris or in Los Angeles in 2028.

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Maybe small square hay bale pitching could be an Olympic event. In my youth, we often pitched small square bales into our large hayloft, sometimes 10 or 12 layers high. However, to make it realistic for the Olympics, the venue would have to be in an enclosed barn hayloft, like back in those days, with no ventilation and temperatures soaring to around 100 degrees F with 95% humidity. That sport would not be for the faint of heart.

Next new Olympic sports?

Other ranching duties on the Olympic list might include sorting calves on foot or on horseback, an ATV or UTV challenge course, calf processing, calf pulling, ornery cow dodging and preg checking, just to name a few.

I guess most of these activities will never make the Olympic list, but if they did, I could think of a few farmers and ranchers that I know of who could make the podium because of their outstanding skill in these areas. Practice over the years, for them as well as for Olympic athletes, makes perfect.