Clayton Murphy competed in the 800m race
By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com
A farm kid from New Madison, Ohio, represented the United States at the Olympics in Rio and came home with some hardware.
Twenty-one year old Clayton Murphy won the bronze medal in the 800m race with a time of 1:42:93, the third fastest in American history. He finished behind gold medallist David Rusidha from Kenya and silver medallist Taofik Makhloufi of Algeria.
Aside from natural talent and athletic ability, those close to Murphy say his upbringing played a pivotal role in his accomplishments.
“I think growing up in agriculture played a big role in the responsibilities he took in training to be a runner,” his father, Mark, told the High Plains/Midwest Ag Journal. “To be a successful livestock showman you have to work with your animal every day and to be a successful runner you have to be diligent about your training, believe in yourself and have confidence in yourself and your results will show for it.”
At five years old, Clayton showed his first pig, a blue-butt barrow, and won the middleweight of his division.
Mark said Clayton had a knack for finding ways to get a competitive advantage while showing, and that’s translated into his running career.
“He knew how to show a pig to find the open holes in the show ring so the judge could see him right away,” he said. “When he ran at the Olympics, he knew how to find the open holes, shoot the gap or hold-up in the race as well.”