When Kade Madsen climbed over the chute at Falcon Stadium, the brace on his knee told one part of the story.

The smile after the whistle told the rest.

For the 21-year-old from Honeyville, Utah, an 88-point ride aboard TBR’s Buffalo Joe at PBR Space Cowboys, presented by U.S. Space Force, was more than a score on the board. It was proof that the two-year break had not taken away his talent, that the injury had not stopped his momentum and that the rider who had spent two years walking the streets of Nashville, Tennessee, on a church mission could still step back into professional bull riding and dominate.

Just months earlier, Madsen had returned from a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. During that time, he did not ride bulls. He did not ride horses. He said he was not around “anything remotely close to the Western industry.”

Instead, he spent two years focused on service, faith and people.

“A lot of people, when they think about missionaries, they think they go door-to-door and stuff like that, like more so like salesmen,” Madsen said before competing in Utah earlier this season. “But really the bulk of what we did was a lot of service anywhere we were at with the community and a lot of proselytizing.”

That service took different forms. Sometimes it meant helping after natural disasters. Sometimes it meant yard work. Sometimes it meant helping people in the community who could not help themselves.

“Anything that we could do to be a benefit to the community,” Madsen said.

The experience changed him. It also gave him perspective.

“I don’t know if I could say one thing,” Madsen said when asked what he learned. “But definitely just to recognize the blessings in your life, because bull riding, it’s very temporary. I know I can’t do this forever. My mission taught me how to recognize those blessings and to cherish every moment.”

That lesson would become more important than he knew.

When Madsen came home, he wasted no time getting back to the sport he had stepped away from. He had stayed in shape on his mission, spending time in the gym, but there is no true replacement for climbing on bulls.

So he got on a lot of them, he said.

“When I came back, I probably got on over 50 bulls in the first month, so I got a lot of reps in.”

His first event back came in St. Louis, where he won the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour season-opener and punched his ticket to compete in Salt Lake City, just 61 miles from his hometown.

That Salt Lake City event had been circled long before he ever returned home.

“This event, when I was on my mission, this was the goal,” Madsen said. “To be back for Salt Lake City so I could ride in front of my home-state crowd. I just feel very blessed that a lot of things unfolded for me to be able to be here, to be able to ride at the best of my ability.”

It was a surreal full-circle moment. His immediate family was there. His brother, two sisters, fiancee, grandparents and friends filled the stands.

For Madsen, it was not just another event. It was a family ordeal.

And for a rider who had spent most of the previous two years away from bull riding, being back on one of the sport’s biggest stages was humbling.

But the comeback was not going to be clean.

In Utah, Madsen partially tore his PCL. While trying to come back and get ready for the 2026 Unleash the Beast: World Finals, the injury worsened. He later fully tore it.

Instead of easing back into bull riding, Madsen found himself trying to rebuild his body while still chasing the same sport that had just tested it.

He wore a brace at Space Cowboys, noting that it limited some of the feel he normally gets through his knees. But it also helped stabilize the joint as he worked through physical therapy to strengthen his quad and hamstring enough to support the injury. He also dropped weight, hoping to be lighter both for the bulls and for his knee.

The preparation was careful. The comeback was not.

Before Colorado Springs, Madsen returned to competition at the Do Deadwood PBR on the Challenger Series. It was his first PBR event back after the injury. It lasted two rough nights.

On the second night, he was knocked out in the arena for roughly five minutes. He did not cover a bull all weekend.

By the time he arrived at Space Cowboys, Madsen had been on only about 20 bulls total since getting hurt in Utah in February.

The timing could have made the moment feel too big. A sold-out Falcon Stadium. More than 30,000 fans. A one-night event tied to the U.S. Space Force and America’s 250th birthday celebration. A brace on his knee. A rough weekend fresh in his mind. A young rider still trying to knock the rust off from two years away and a body still learning how to ride injured.

But before the injury, Madsen had already said the difference between who he was before his mission and who he is now was maturity.

“I’m a lot more mature physically and mentally,” Madsen said. “I’m just knocking the cobwebs off. So look out when I get fully ready.”

At Falcon Stadium, he looked ready enough.

Riding for Team Star Command, Madsen delivered one of the first conversions of the night, matching TBR’s Buffalo Joe jump for jump before sprinting away after the whistle. The brace may have limited his feel, but it did its job. And so did Madsen.

The ride was marked 88 points.

After going 0-for-Deadwood, it was an answer. With a damaged knee still needing to be trusted, it was progress. And after two years away from bull riding, a winning return, an injury, a knockout and every climb back into the chute that followed, it became a statement.

Madsen had said in Utah that he wanted to contribute to the Missouri Thunder after the team kept him on the roster throughout his mission, even while he was away from competition.

“It means a lot to me,” Madsen said. “Even before my mission, there’s a lot of things that come to pass to not only allow me to ride in the PBR, but also to allow me to go on my mission. I’m very thankful that they respected me and believed in me enough to keep me on for those two years, even though they weren’t really getting anything out of it. But now that I’m back, I’m ready to contribute to the team.”

That support mattered. So did being back around teammates and coaches like Ross Coleman.

“Support systems are really big in this game,” Madsen said. “It’s awesome.”

Of Coleman, Madsen smiled describing the longtime coach and mentor.

“He’s definitely a motivator,” Madsen said. “He’s pretty loud and gets us going, for sure.”

That kind of push has mattered during a comeback that has required more than talent. Madsen has leaned on the perspective he gained in Nashville, the discipline needed to rehab a torn knee ligament and the resilience to keep showing up after a weekend like Deadwood. And through it all, he has carried the lesson his mission taught him: bull riding may be temporary, but the moments it gives him are worth cherishing.

At Space Cowboys, one of those moments arrived.

The scoreboard read 88.

Madsen ran clear.

And for the first time since the injury, the comeback did not feel like something he had to explain.

Everyone could see it as he walked off the Falcon Stadium dirt and summed it up in two words: “I’m 100%.”

Photo courtesy of Bull Stock Media