David Taylor makes an emotional confession after losing out on the gold medal at the World Wrestling Championships

In a heart-wrenching moment after missing out on the gold medal at the 2024 World Wrestling Championships, David Taylor opened up about the emotional toll of the result. After failing to earn a spot to compete in the Paris Games, Taylor wanted to leave the sport on his terms.

At the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials, Taylor was overpowered by Aaron Brooks, missing the spot on the Olympic team. However, the American wrestler geared up for the World Wrestling Championships after hearing Abdul Sadulaev would also compete, who he had challenged in 2020.

However, the Individual Neutral Athlete and two-time Olympic champion Sadulaev bested the American in the qualification round with a commanding lead of 7-0, keeping the 33-year-old wrestler away from his fourth World Championships gold medal.

Following his Championships run's conclusion, Taylor said while fighting back his tears that he wanted to conclude his career with a decisive win after the Olympic Trials' underwhelming performance. He added that he had a clear vision of how he wanted the match to unfold.

"When you're so good for so long you just never know when it's time to be done. I just got an opportunity to go out the way I wanted to," Taylor said via Flo Wrestling. "It's a tough decision to wrestle but, it just didn't want to end the way it did in April, it didn't necessarily mean I wanted to be here, either you know I just want to have the chance just to finish on my terms." (2:58)

"I was hyper-focused on wrestling Sadulaev. I have the game script of what I thought and how the match went differently. Should have wrestled it like that match. I felt like this was a chance of redemption in this match," he added.

"I felt like I had the fire to compete" - David Taylor reveals what motivated him to return to competitions after suffering loss at the Olympic Trials

David Taylor in action during the Men's Freestyle - 86kg weight gold medal match in Belgrade, Serbia. (Photo by Getty Images)

David Taylor recently revealed how coaching motivated him to make a comeback at competitions. His role as a coach made him realize his capacity and desire to compete.

“Oklahoma State gave me a change of scenery and a change of energy and excitement, rather than being somebody who's just being put through workouts," Taylor said via Olympics.com. “I was putting guys through workouts and I felt like I had the fire to compete the way I’m asking these guys to compete, so I should probably do that."

A month after the Olympic Trials, David Taylor stepped into the head coach role at Oklahoma State University.