When it comes to winning wrestling matches, Jordan Burroughs doesn't want to pin opponents. He wants to completely dominate them.
In order to do that, Burroughs, 24, likes to take down opponents as frequently as possible, he said.
"It's always about showing dominance," Burroughs said during this Raw241.com interview posted on Flowrestling.org. "Many guys can get pinned and call it a fluke or this or that, but you get taken down seven times, and you just got your butt whooped, you know?"
Burroughs, who wrestles at the 74-kilogram (163 pounds) weight class, won gold at the 2011 World Championships in Istanbul. He won gold again at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. In fact, Burroughs hasn't lost a wrestling match since 2009.
Since he broke onto the international scene, Burroughs has begun to market himself with an "All I See is Gold" slogan, which extends to his Twitter handle (@alliseeisgold) and his website (www.alliseeisgold.com). In addition, Burroughs sells "All I See is Gold" T-Shirts as well as "Got Doubles?" T-shirts.
The "Got Doubles?" T-shirt refers to double-leg takedowns, which is one of Burroughs' favorite methods of attack. During the same interview posted on Flowrestling.org, Burroughs talked about his ability -- and sometimes inability -- to finish double-leg takedowns and earn points from those takedowns.
Eventually, Burroughs said, he became so good at shooting doubles because he wanted to become more efficient. That efficiency eventually allowed him to become better at controlling matches, he said.
"I've shot a lot of bad doubles in my career," Burroughs said during the interview. "Just because I've finished a lot of them -- I've missed just as many in my career. So for every two doubles I hit, I miss five or six, so it all became about efficiency for me. I didn't just want to shoot and waste shots and waste energy. I wanted to become efficient, and that's when I started working on angles, creating setups and being able to manipulate a guy's body to the point where I could exploit him."
That's exactly what Burroughs did in his gold-medal match at the 2012 Olympic Games. There, he defeated Iranian Sadegh Goudarszi, 1-0, 1-0, with a trademark double-leg takedown in both the first and second period. Burroughs also defeated Goudarszi to win his world championship title in 2011.
The New-Jersey native has been one the most dominant American wrestler of the past few years, and he hasn't needed pins to win. Doubles do the job for Burroughs.
Sandra Johnson is a longtime Olympic fan. While working for the United States Olympic Committee and living in the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., Johnson had the opportunity to immerse herself in the Olympic Movement. Follow her on Twitter: @SandraJohnson46.
