Olympic Wrestling 2012: Anything but Gold Will Be Failure for Jordan Burroughs

Jordan Burroughs begins the 2012 London Olympics with a 34-0 professional freestyle record. His last loss was an injury-aided overtime defeat while wrestling for Nebraska in 2009 in what would be his final match of the season.

His brief '09-10 season was sandwiched by a pair of national championships, the first being an undefeated season in the 157-pound class. The second was an undefeated run at 165 pounds.

More recently, Burroughs won the 2011 World Championships, the only member of the U.S. team in London to do so.

He told Sports Illustrated that he expects to win a gold medal in London.

"

I don't want to look at it as a pressure situation. I already hold myself to a high standard, so I expect to win a gold medal every time I step on the mat.

A lot of people expect me to win. I expect me to win. My family expects me to win, so I got to get it done.

"

One participant he'll certainly take note of is Sadegh Goudarzi of Iran. The two met in the finals of the World Championships, with Burroughs taking a 3-2, 4-1 win.

Goudarzi is making his first appearance in the Olympics and has continued to prepare for a run at the gold medal. He has dominated competition in Asia, including the Asian Championships in March, the third-consecutive year he's taken the title.

Another competitor that will have revenge on his mind is Denis Tsargush of Russia. He was the two-time defending World Champion in 2011 and faced Burroughs in their second match.

Despite ripping a hole in Burroughs' singlet, Tsargush suffered the loss.

"

I think the podium stand outfit is pretty trendy. To be honest, I could wear a diaper up there, as long as I'm on top of the podium!!!

— Jordan Burroughs (@alliseeisgold) August 6, 2012"

Burroughs has also been verbal about his Olympic aspirations via his Twitter account. 

In case his handle doesn't make his intentions clear, his comments certainly do. Burroughs goes by @alliseeisgold.

Considering he hasn't lost a tournament since taking third in the national championships his sophomore season, the name seems fitting.

Burroughs' website uses the same moniker...http://alliseeisgold.com/.

The career map for Burroughs is pretty simple. He plans on winning every major tournament through 2017 and then jumping into mixed martial arts.

This run would include a second Olympic gold medal in the Rio games. 

He has to win in London first, and anything less will be a major disappointment. 

UPDATE

Burroughs did follow through on his promise to win gold.

"

I did it! 2012 Olympic Gold Medalist! twitter.com/alliseeisgold/…

— Jordan Burroughs (@alliseeisgold) August 10, 2012"