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Team USA Wrestling: Jordan Burroughs Favored For Gold

Camden, NJ's Jordan Burroughs has been installed as a favorite to win gold in freestyle wrestling and could very well be poised to be one of the faces of Team USA.

By Jason Brewer
May 15, 2012; Dallas, TX, USA; Team USA men's wrestler Jordan Burroughs during a portrait session at the 2012 Team USA Media Summit at the Hilton Anatole. Mandatory Credit: Jim Cowsert-US PRESSWIRE
May 15, 2012; Dallas, TX, USA; Team USA men's wrestler Jordan Burroughs during a portrait session at the 2012 Team USA Media Summit at the Hilton Anatole. Mandatory Credit: Jim Cowsert-US PRESSWIRE

Camden's Jordan Burroughs has been installed as a favorite to win gold in freestyle wrestling and could very well be poised to be one of the faces of Team USA. The 24 year old who wrestled collegiately at Nebraska is already a two time champion and looking to add Olympic gold to his resume. In fact, he's looking to add multiple golds...

"I think that's what our sport needs," he told the Philadelphia Daily News. "A lot of guys get out of wrestling immediately after winning a gold medal. Every time another Olympics comes around, it's always a bunch of fresh faces. For me to win an Olympic gold and have a chance to win another would be huge for our sport. Hopefully it will put us back into the mainstream media. Wrestling is a great sport, and I just want the world and the country to know that."

Burroughs has been making the media rounds with appearances on CNN, the Today Show, ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange and even facing off with (and thoroughly defeating) Russian rival, Kamal Malikov, in a Times Square exhibition match about a month ago.

However, he says he's still not lost focus.


"I'm excited. I've wanted this opportunity for a long time. I'm super-focused on my goal; it's easy to get caught up in all the hype of being a professional athlete," Burroughs said. "My one and only focus at the Olympic Games is to win a gold medal. I have a whole country behind me and I'm ready to go out and win it."

For more on the 2012 London Summer Olympics and to follow local athletes, be sure to follow our Olympics stream at SBNation Philly

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