Jordan Burroughs’ Twitter handle reads “All I See Is Gold.”
He won 74kg gold medals at the 2012 Olympics, as well as at the world wrestling championships in 2011, 2013, and 2015.
But he failed to earn a medal of any color at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Burroughs is seeing gold once again, after claiming his fourth world championship title Saturday in Paris.
“I’ve never taken second place,” Burroughs said to reporters in Paris. “If I’m in the finals, I’m going to win it.”
Burroughs helped the U.S. win the men’s freestyle team title for the first time since 1995.
It was an even matchup between Burroughs and Russia’s Khetag Tsabolov, the 2014 world champion. Neither athlete led by more than two points until Burroughs won 9-6.
Exhausted, Burroughs fell to the mat before taking a lap with a U.S. flag.
“I actually tried to rip my singlet, but it was too tightly bound,” Burroughs said, laughing. “I’m not as strong as I thought I was.”
Burroughs, who said he will celebrate by eating a French crepe, is already looking ahead to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, when he will be 32.
“I’m hoping Tokyo can be the final chapter for me,” Burroughs said. “Rio couldn’t be it. I couldn’t go off with that being the lasting imprint on my legacy, finishing in ninth place.”
Also on Saturday, Kyle Snyder defeated Russia’s Abdulrashid Sadulaev to win the 97kg world championship. Sadulayev, who won the 2014 and 2015 World titles and 2016 Olympic gold at 86kg, moved up to 97kg this year to potentially meet Snyder for the first time.
The 21-year-old Snyder became the youngest American wrestler to win a world title in 2015 and an Olympic title in 2016.
“Kyle is the new G.O.A.T. of this era,” Burroughs said, using the acronym “Greatest of All Time” to describe his teammate. “He truly motivates me.”
NBCSN will recap the world wrestling championships Sunday at 3 p.m. ET.
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My first tweet back is not about me. I'm just gonna let this sit here. Anyone who knows wrestling knows what just happened. #worldchamps 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/621Yh6hQyd
— Jordan Burroughs (@alliseeisgold) August 26, 2017