海角大神

Najiah Knight drops her 100-pound frame onto a snorting 1,300-pound bull and adjusts her ropes, warming the sticky rosin. Music blares across the arena, but Najiah can hear only her dad, in the chute with her, and her mom, cheering from the stands. She nods to indicate she鈥檚 ready, and a cowboy pulls the door of the chute.

The gate swings open, and Najiah 鈥� a 17-year-old gladiator entering a ring where men rule 鈥� begins her dance with the bull.

Najiah, a high school junior from small-town Oregon, is on a yearslong quest to become the first woman to compete at the top level of the Professional Bull Riders tour. She can鈥檛 join until next year, when she鈥檚 18, and even then, she鈥檒l have to prove she鈥檚 good enough to qualify. There鈥檚 fierce competition: Only about 30 of the best riders globally reach the top. It takes time, travel, money, and, perhaps most of all, guts. The sport is dangerous, with riders frequently injured and even killed.

None of that fazes Najiah. If there鈥檚 one quality she doesn鈥檛 have, it鈥檚 fear.

鈥淪ince I was a little kid, 3 years old, I would tell my dad that this is what I鈥檓 gonna do,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 going to be a bull rider. I鈥檓 going to make it. As I got older, it was 鈥業鈥檓 going to be in the PBR, I鈥檓 going to be the first girl.鈥�

鈥淭hat is my why. That is my drive,鈥� said Najiah, the only woman to qualify in the 16-18 age division for this month鈥檚 Junior World Finals in Las Vegas.

There, wearing a helmet and mouthpiece, she made adjustments to the rope circling her bull. She threw her hips forward. Then came the nod 鈥� go time. In that moment, there鈥檚 no emotion, just focus.

鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to be in the game, you鈥檝e got to follow the bull,鈥� Najiah said.

Bull riders try to stay on the bucking animal for eight seconds, one hand in the air. It鈥檚 violent and chaotic. If eight seconds is achieved, both bull and rider are scored.

Like many of the teens that day, Najiah fell in just a couple seconds. But she鈥檇 get another chance.9ih

Back home, Najiah is more typical teenager than rodeo star. She lives on the outskirts of Arlington, a blink-and-you鈥檒l-miss-it town of 628 people along Interstate 84, which cuts across Oregon.

Najiah plays volleyball and basketball for Arlington High, which fields combined teams with a nearby school. You鈥檇 never know from looking at her how tough she is, her coach says. But her parents realized from that start that their girl was fearless.

At age 3, Andrew Knight said, Najiah started riding sheep 鈥� known as mutton busting. 鈥淚t was like she had velcro pants on, and she鈥檇 stick to them,鈥� he said with a laugh. 鈥淭here was not an inch of movement budging her off.鈥�

As her mom, Missi, put it: 鈥淭here was no taming that fire.鈥�

When Najiah was 7, she started riding steers. At 9, she was on miniature bulls. From 2018 to 2020, she was ranked among the country鈥檚 top 15 mini bull riders. In 2020, she was the first girl to ride New York鈥檚 Madison Square Garden. In the third round, she beat all the boys.

A broken arm and the pandemic sidelined Najiah for a bit. But for about two years, she鈥檚 been riding junior bulls 鈥� a step below the big bulls.

At home, Najiah trains with Andrew in the driveway, a barrel set up with springs and levers to simulate a bull ride. He rides a fine line between coach and dad. If he feels fear, he said, his daughter will, too. His motto is one of positivity.

In Vegas, two days after her first ride, Najiah got her second attempt in the Junior World Finals.

With her dad, she readied for the ride 鈥� the duo could communicate without speaking. She nodded, motivated as always.

But again, she was tossed by the bull short of eight seconds. She was disappointed, but not discouraged.

鈥淚 wanted it to go perfectly, just the perfect ride, but it doesn鈥檛 always go that way,鈥� she said.

Najiah is direct about what she wants to accomplish: Be the first woman on PBR鈥檚 top-level tour, Unleash The Beast; be named Rookie of the Year; and win a world championship. Every ride is a step toward that goal.

Najiah and her family have been strategic in her promotion. They鈥檝e cultivated her social-media image and courted key sponsorships 鈥� she has deals with Cooper Tires and Ariat, the boot and clothing maker.

Everyone from experienced riders to casual fans can see Najiah鈥檚 passion and fearlessness. But it鈥檚 hard to say how feasible her dream is, fellow riders and league officials say.

鈥淭here is the hopeful side of me that wants her to be a world champion,鈥� PBR CEO Sean Gleason said. 鈥淚 believe that anything is possible for her. She鈥檚 been committed. She鈥檚 been working at it for a long, long time.

鈥淏ut it鈥檚 a very difficult sport. The hill to climb is high for anybody.鈥�

Najiah doesn鈥檛 see her gender as an obstacle. 鈥淚鈥檓 just a bull rider,鈥� she often says with a shrug.

But she also wants to be a role model for women and Native Americans. Najiah and her family are Paiute, part of the Klamath Tribes, and she proudly wears a beaded hat band and necklaces before she rides. She鈥檚 active outside the arena, too 鈥� last year, she appeared at a Ride to the Polls event to encourage young Navajo voters in Kayenta, Arizona.

鈥淚鈥檓 pretty sure I鈥檓 the only woman Native bull rider that I know,鈥� she said.

The Vegas competition hasn鈥檛 swayed her. When she turns 18, she expects to compete on the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour. From there, she鈥檒l work toward needed points for the top level.

Najiah 鈥� and her family, the league, and her sponsors 鈥� know it鈥檚 a long road. She long ago accepted the danger of the sport and the challenge to make it to the top.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 care about what anyone else thinks,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 do this for me.鈥�

This story was reported by The Associated Press. AP Sports Writer Mark Anderson in Las Vegas contributed to this report.