Jordan Burroughs of U.S. celebrates after defeating Iran's Sadegh Saeed Goudarzi in the final of the men's 74Kg freestyle wrestling at the ExCel venue during the London 2012 Olympic Games, August 10, 2012.
LONDON — U.S. world champion freestyle wrestler Jordan Burroughs won the Olympic gold medal in the men’s 74-kilogram weight class at the London Games.
Burroughs achieved not only what he set out to do, but also what he said he would do - finish on top.
“I told everyone I wanted to be the best for a long time. And there’s a difference between having a plan and actually executing that plan," said Burroughs. "A lot of people thought I was cocky, a lot of people didn’t think I had what it took to be an Olympic champ. I won a world championship last year, and they thought maybe I got a little bit lucky, but no one’s laughing anymore.”
Burroughs’ gold medal victory came against Iran’s Sadegh Goudarzi by a score for the two periods of 1-0, 1-0. He also had defeated the Iranian in last year’s world championship finals.
Burroughs scored his points near the end of each period and said that was his strategy.
“It was a bit of a plan for me. I knew that I could take him down at any moment, but I knew it would be a dogfight, despite what the score was, so I pictured myself and envisioned myself taking him down with maybe 10 to 15 seconds left in each period, so that he wouldn’t have much time to execute his shots and execute a plan," said Burroughs.
Burroughs won four matches on the day en route to the gold medal. His semifinal win came over eventual bronze medalist and a two-time world champion Denis Tsargush of Russia.
Burroughs hopes his win can help rally his U.S. freestyle wrestling teammates to execute good performances through the remainder of the Olympics.
“This shows everyone [my teammates] that they are capable of winning. You know we always put Russians and Iranians on a pedestal, but we want to restore the order back as Americans being the best team in the world. And I think I’ve proven that is possible and hopefully the rest of the guys will follow suit,” he said.
The 24-year-old Burroughs only last year graduated from college, where he won two national championships, so he hopes this is just the beginning of his mark on the world stage.
“I want to be the face of wrestling. I want to be that star that people can look up to when you describe wrestling. Overall in the U.S., I want everyone to know who Jordan Burroughs is, you know, so that’s the goal for me.”
Burroughs said he has every intention of defending his Olympic title in four years in Rio de Janeiro.
Earlier Friday in freestyle wrestling’s 55-kilo class, the gold medal went to Russian Dzhamal Otarsultanov.
Day 14 of the Competition
1/11Meseret Defar of Ethiopia, after she won the women's 5000m final, Friday, August 10, 2012.
The 14th day of the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
2/11Jordan Ernest Burroughs of the U.S. (in red) fights with Canada's Matthew Judah Gentry in the Men's 74kg Freestyle wrestling.
The 14th day of the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
3/11Montenegro's water polo players watch the final seconds of their team's loss to Croatia.
The 14th day of the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
4/11Tunisia's Oussama Mellouli swims on his way to gold during the men's 10-kilometer swimming marathon
The 14th day of the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
5/11Spain's team performs in the synchronized swimming free routine final.
The 14th day of the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
6/11Israel's Neta Rivkin competes using the ribbon in her individual all-around gymnastics qualification match.
The 14th day of the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
7/11Australia's Jesse Phillips, left, and Stephen Bird paddle through the men's kayak double 200m semifinal.
The 14th day of the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
8/11Sweden's team players celebrate after defeating Hungary in their men's semi-final match at the Basketball Arena.
The 14th day of the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
9/11Oussama Mellouli of Tunisia reacts after winning gold in the men's 10km marathon swimming at Hyde Park.
The 14th day of the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
10/11Visitors' shadows cast as they stroll through the ExCel arena in London.
The 14th day of the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
11/11Latvia's Maris Strombergs bows after winning the men's BMX event.
