Jordan Burroughs on Olympic loss: ‘I let my family down’
Jordan Burroughs had only lost two matches in his wrestling career entering into Friday, but the favorite in the men’s 74kg freestyle wrestling division dropped two matches in one session and ended his dream to repeat as a gold medalist.
Following a 3–1 defeat at the hands of Aniuar Geduev of Russia in the quarterfinals and his ensuing 11–1 loss to Bezkod Abdurakhmonov of Uzbekistan in the losers bracket, Burroughs spoke about the disappointment he felt, according toYahoo’s Jeff Passan.
“I feel like I let my family down, my kids,” you said. “I missed a lot of important milestones in my children’s lives to pursue this sport. I didn’t see my son walk for the first time. I’ve left my wife at home with two kids for long periods of time to go to training camps, to foreign countries. She did that joyfully, not begrudgingly, because she knew on days like these I always fulfilled my end. Now I feel like I let her down. I let her down, I let my family down. This is supposed to be my year. This is supposed to be my breakthrough performance that cemented me as a legend in the sport. And it almost retracted my position in the sport. It hurts me. It hurts a lot, man. It hurts.”
The three-time world champion now holds a 130-4 international record.
