USA TODAY International Edition
Eyeing a repeat
Life has changed, but wrestler yearns to win second gold
10 to watch: U. S. wrestler Jordan Burroughs has a new outlook, but winning a second gold is a priority,
LINCOLN, NEB. As he left the podium at the London Olympics, gold medal around his neck and
The Star- Spangled Banner still echoing in his ears, Jordan Burroughs was already thinking about a return trip to the Games.
He was the best wrestler in the world, the reigning world and Olympic champion at 74 kilograms ( 163 pounds). He had yet to lose at that point, in the midst of what would be a 69- match winning streak, a record for a U. S. wrestler. He knew it wouldn’t be enough.
“My high school coach used to always tell us, ‘ You’re either getting better or you’re getting worse. There’s no staying the same,’ ” Burroughs said. “Because if you’re staying the same, chances are your opponents are improving. They’re watching a lot of you. They know your tendencies, they know your strengths and weaknesses.
“But also, I think that you have to have a constant desire to do more,” he added. “I feel like I’m such a better wrestler now than I was in 2012. If I watch myself then, I don’t really think I was very good. I don’t.
“I think I’ve improved so much from then that who I am now would definitely beat who I was then. I know that’s hard to say, but I think I’ve improved a lot.” As a wrestler and a man. Like most Olympic sports, wrestling tends to fade from general consciousness between Games. For athletes to have sustained success — or at least not have people say, “Who?” when their name is mentioned — they need to pique the public’s interest, give Americans a compelling reason to stay invested when the Games are over.
For Burroughs, that was All I See is Gold, the Twitter name he created in his senior year of college.
“You see it and think, ‘ Oh God, that guy is cocky as heck!’ ” said Mark Manning, who has coached Burroughs since 2006, his freshman year at Nebraska. “Once you know Jordan Burroughs, he’s not cocky at all. He’s confident.”
So much so that the night before he wrestled in London, Burroughs Tweeted, “My next tweet will be a picture of me holding that Gold medal!!!”
Burroughs laughs sheepishly when reminded of posts like that.
“The crazy thing is people would actually retweet it and get excited about it. Like, ‘ You’re the man!’ But if my favorite athlete was tweeting stuff like that, I’d be like, ‘ Man, this dude’s a jerk!’ ” Burroughs said.
“At that time, my confidence and my arrogance was a huge characteristic of my success. It helped me to prepare and believe,” he said. “Now, my perspective has shifted.”
Being a role model has always been important to Burroughs. Though his parents stressed the importance of hard work and being true to his word, dreaming beyond their horizons wasn’t something a lot of people did in his hometown of Sicklerville, N. J. No one had shown them how.
Burroughs wanted to do that, and he talked a good game. But he wasn’t always true to what he preached. Oh, he wasn’t a bad kid. But he was an Olympic champion at 24, the world and all of its temptations at his feet.
“He struggled with that. I think that was always a conflict,” said Burroughs’ wife, Lauren. “He was a kid in London in a lot of ways.”
The Burroughses met through wrestling; the first time Lauren’s dad, a longtime coach, saw Burroughs wrestle, he predicted his future son- in- law would be an Olympic champ. Burroughs had yet to win his first world title.
“He gave a speech at our wedding and said, ‘ I always hoped one of my sons would be an Olympic champion. I just never thought it would happen this way,’ ” Burroughs said.
Though they were only casual- ly dating at the time — “We were just kids back then,” Lauren said — she went to London. Afterward, as things got more serious, she told Burroughs he could have the perks of fame or he could have her but he wasn’t going to have both.
He chose his wife. Married in 2013, the Burroughses have two children, son Beacon, 2, and daughter Ora, born in June.
“The onus was on me to either change and man up to the responsibility or continue living the lifestyle that I had at the time and essentially go nowhere,” Burroughs said. “I didn’t want to be now what I was then. I wanted to develop.
“I feel like I’m a better person because of it. Better athlete. Better wrestler. Better man. And I’m happy. I’m happy with who I am.”
But he’s not satisfied and doesn’t plan to ever be.
Ask any elite athlete, and he or she will tell you it’s much easier to chase after someone than to hold opponents off. For five years now, ever since he won his first world title, Burroughs has had a target on his back, one that’s gotten bigger with each victory.
Despite that, he has lost only two matches in his career, both in 2014.
Manning, his coach, praises Burroughs for his “grab your lunch pail and go to work” mentality. Despite his family and growing fame — he has his own product line with Asics as well as deals with Ralph Lauren and Chobani, and he was given the honor of introducing first lady Michelle Obama during the 100 Days Out celebration — he can be found in the Nebraska wrestling room each morning, drilling with Manning. He is back for another session in the afternoon and is in the weight room three times a week.
His speed and moves make him elusive. But it’s the way he thinks that makes Burroughs extraordinary, Manning said.
“Every year is new. That’s been kind of our mark,” Manning said. “Once the world championships or Olympics are over, it’s all about now. That’s in the past. It’s not about what you’ve done, it’s about the next challenge.”
Burroughs has plenty in front of him.
A win in Rio de Janeiro would give him five titles in the world championships and Olympics, tying him with Bruce Baumgartner and putting him one behind John Smith’s U. S. record. Burroughs wants that mark, wants to be considered the greatest American wrestler ever.
But it has little to do with a line or two in the record books.
He wants to be an example for all those people who don’t have one, someone to be counted on. The more wins he piles up, the bigger his platform is.
“You’re capable of doing amazing things,” Burroughs said. “I wasn’t groomed or created to be this until I realized that I could be this. And I just started working my butt off, and all the sudden I started winning. And I haven’t looked back.”
Not that he’s taking gold in Rio for granted. Handing the reigning Olympic champion a rare loss while the whole world is watching would be almost as big a prize for his opponents as the gold medal itself.
“But I also know what they’re thinking,” Burroughs said. “And I’m thinking, ‘ Not today.’ ”