Farms.com Home   Ag Industry News

Ohio farmer goes for gold in Rio

Clayton Murphy will represent the United States

By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com

On August 12, Clayton Murphy from New Paris, Ohio, will begin his quest for gold at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro when he competes in the 800m race.

Coming off a gold medal at the 2015 Pan American Games, Murphy said he’ll need to bring the work ethic he learned on the farm with him to Brazil.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Clayton Murphy's gold-medal run at the 2015 Pan American Games.
 
Prior to becoming a world-class athlete, Murphy showed and sold pigs at local fairs.

“We raise show animals on the family farm,” Clayton’s father, Mark, an agronomist, told Runners World in July. “Clayton loved to show the pigs. And I can tell you, he is just as good a pig salesman as he is a runner.”

“Running is a process and a lot of things I learned on the farm carries over now,” he told Dayton Daily News.

He said as an individual athlete, much of his training is done by himself – which is an environment he’s familiar with.

“I’ve been doing all that since I was a kid on the farm,” he said. “You have to get up early, do your chores and do them again after school before your parents get home from work.”

Clayton’s gold medal aspirations have invoked a strong sense of community and local pride.


Clayton Murphy.
Getty

Mark said many people have introduced themselves and told him they’d be watching the Olympics to cheer Clayton on.

Mark, his wife Melinda, and more of Clayton’s supporters will be able to cheer him on in person as they head to Rio next week.


Trending Video

Funds Ditch Ag Commodities, Chase Stocks Amid an End to Middle East War, & Trade Deal Buzz

Video: Funds Ditch Ag Commodities, Chase Stocks Amid an End to Middle East War, & Trade Deal Buzz


The 12-day war between Iran-Israel came to an end sending crude oil futures plunging as the big fund speculators removed the war risk premium.

The weather risk premium in the Ag complex is sending corn, wheat and soybean futures lower on month-end selling ahead of the market moving USDA quarterly grain stocks and acreage reports on June 30th.

Instead, funds were chasing and sending tech stocks higher with the S&P 500/NASDAQ indexes setting new all-time record highs!

June 1 USDA Hogs and pigs report was slightly bearish while the U.S. $ Index traded to new contract lows as the de-dollarization that began in 2014 continues.

Feed in the form of soybean meal futures for livestock producers got cheaper, trading to new contract lows.

The Stats Canada seeded acreage update was bullish canola and wheat.