In Pictures: Former Olympic wrestling champion Jordan Burroughs celebrates Christmas with wife Laurent and his children

American wrestler Jordan Burroughs recently shared glimpses of his Christmas celebrations with his family. This comes just a few months after his campaign at the World Wrestling Championships 2024.

The 36-year-old lost his quarterfinal contest to Iran's Mohammad Ashghar Nokhodilarimi to exit the tournament without a medal. Notably, Burroughs had won his bouts in the initial stages of the tournament against the likes of Magomet Evolev and Zalimkhan Khadjiev.

However, Burroughs has put this campaign behind him and was recently seen in a cheerful mood as he celebrated the festive season. Burroughs shared a few pictures of his Christmas Eve celebrations with his wife, Laurent, and five children, Badge, Banner, Ora, Rise, and Beacon.

In the post, Burroughs donned a sky-blue hoodie and a half-sleeved white jacket while complementing it with a cap and black pants. He captioned the post:

"Merry Christmas from the Burroughs Family!"

The 36-year-old also had a bad run at the US Olympic Wrestling Trials 2024 where he faced defeat in the 74kg category at the hands of Jason Nolf by a margin of 3-0. This ended Burroughs' dream to compete in the third quadrennial event of his career (after 2012 and 2016).

The New Jersey native also faced a similar predicament at the delayed 2020 Olympics where he lost his bout against Kyle Dake in the finals.

---

Jordan Burroughs shares his perspective on overcoming defeats

Jordan Burroughs during his 79Kg match at the Beat the Street Final X wrestling match (Image via: Getty Images)

Jordan Burroughs shared his perspective on overcoming defeats. In an interview in April, Burroughs stated that an individual should never ignore defeat and always work on it. He also mentioned that negative energy can help individuals to unleash their capabilities.

He stated (via Olympics.com):

"You want to feel it. The right thing is to feel it and then fight it. Not to ignore it or avoid it, which I don't think is the proper way of dealing with emotions. Because when you bottle up all of this negative energy, it'll either build resentment or it'll be unleashed on someone or something. I can be sad for a moment and then dust myself off and get back into good posture."

Jordan Burroughs is one of the most decorated American wrestlers with an Olympic gold and six World Championships gold medals. He also won six gold medals at the Pan American Championships and two gold medals for Nebraska at the NCAA level.