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32-year-old David Taylor proved his wrestling prowess for the third time by winning the gold medal at the Wrestling World Championships in Belgrade on Sunday. Famously known as ‘The Magic Man’, Taylor boasted his achievements as he is now set to compete in the Olympic Trials of April next year.
On Sunday, David Taylor faced his long time rival Hassan Yazdani on the world stage in the 86 kg weight class, pinning him down with an unexpected move. The American wrestler defeated Yazdani in a 9-3 lead.
Moreover, Taylor now holds a 3-1 lead against his Iranian rival in the global finals, after becoming the 2020 gold medalist at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and winning at the Wrestling World Championships in 2022. At his recent championship, Taylor admitted that his repeated rivalry with Yazdani keeps him motivated. Yazdani defeated him only once before in the 2021 World Championships.
Taylor’s third gold medal will now see him advance to the finals of April’s Olympic Trials, which will be at the training base of Penn State. This will be his second shot at winning another Olympic gold of his career.
After winning the gold medal in Belgrade, David Taylor expressed pride over his glorious win and told the reporters of NBC Sports:
“I’m the most dynamic, dominant wrestler the sport’s ever seen.”
In his overall career, Taylor has earnedthree gold medals and one silver medal in the World Championships. Besides an Olympic gold medal, he also boasts three gold medals in the Pan American Championships.
David Taylor on facing knee injury and thoughts about retirement
David Taylor experienced a knee injuy in 2019 that made him undergo surgery. That year, he could not defend his world title as he suffered from a swollen knee. Finally, in 2022, he won the world title once again while enduring pain in his knee.
It led Taylor to think about retirement as he had pretty much achieved everything by then. The wrestler told NBC Sports,
“I just didn’t know if I wanted to do it anymore,” he said.
Furthermore, he said,
“I achieved my lifelong goal of Olympic champion. I believed if I could go to world championships eight weeks later, I’d probably be done. Going there [to 2021 Worlds] and losing, it was hard.”
After winning the 2023 world title, David Taylor could become the third U.S. wrestler to win back-to-back Olympic titles if he wins the finals of the Olympic Trials.
