Who is US wrestler Jordan Burroughs who supported Vinesh Phogat after her disqualification at Paris Olympics 2024?
Jordan Burroughs, who competes in the 74kg category, is a 2012 London Olympics gold medalist. He has also won six gold medals and three bronze at the Wrestling World Championship. He was a member of the US Olympic or World Team for a record eleven times and is considered one of the greatest freestyle wrestlers of all time.
On Wednesday, India was dealt a massive blow when wrestler Vinesh Phogat was disqualified for being overweight, just hours before she was to compete in the finals of the women's 50kg. The nation of 1.4 billion, which was gearing up to cheer for her to win a gold or silver medal at the Olympics, was left shell-shocked over Phogat's disqualification for being overweight by just 100 grams.
Credit: PTI
Equally shocked by the developments was American wrestling great Jordan Burroughs, who, in a series of posts on X, expressed his disbelief at the turn of events and stood in solidarity with the Indian wrestler.
Also read: Vinesh Phogat disqualified before final for being overweight by 100g
Who is Jordan Burroughs?
36-year-old Burroughs, who competes in the 74kg category, is a 2012 London Olympics gold medalist. He has also won six gold medals and three bronze at the Wrestling World Championship.
CREDIT: Jordan Burroughs
He was a member of the US Olympic or World Team for a record eleven times and is considered one of the greatest freestyle wrestlers of all time.
What Jordan Burroughs said about Vinesh Phogat
In his first post on X, Burroughs pointed out how Phogat, who deserved to be on the podium, will go home empty-handed.
"My goodness. I don¡¯t think any of us can quite comprehend the future ramifications for Vinesh missing weight this morning. When she awoke today, she was India¡¯s first ever female Olympic finalist, guaranteed at least a silver. Now she will be returning home medal-less. God bless her and all she¡¯ll have to endure moving forward. She has looked amazing this week, and deserved to be on that podium today. This is tragic," he said.
My goodness. I don¡¯t think any of us can quite comprehend the future ramifications for Vinesh missing weight this morning. When she awoke today, she was India¡¯s first ever female Olympic finalist, guaranteed at least a silver. Now she will be returning home medal-less. God bless¡
¡ª Jordan Burroughs (@alliseeisgold) August 7, 2024
CREDIT: UWW
To make his point on how the 100 grams would have made any difference, Burroughs had the following comparison.
Vinesh missed weight this morning by only 100 grams or 0.22 lbs.
¡ª Jordan Burroughs (@alliseeisgold) August 7, 2024
Want to know how small that is?
100 grams weighs as much as these household items:
?1 bar of soap
?1 kiwi
?2 eggs
?100 paper clips
- Martin Thorstensson
Also read: Vinesh Phogat announces retirement after Paris Olympics 2024 disqualification
Jordan Burroughs suggests changes to rules
He further suggested some rule changes the UWW should implement when it comes to weighing wrestlers.
Proposed Immediate Rule Changes for UWW:
¡ª Jordan Burroughs (@alliseeisgold) August 7, 2024
1.) 1kg second Day Weight Allowance.
2.) Weigh-ins pushed from 8:30am to 10:30am.
3.) Forfeit will occur in future finals if opposing finalist misses weight.
4.) After a semifinal victory, both finalists¡¯ medals are secured even if¡
'Give Vinesh silver'
Burroughs followed up with yet another post reading "Give Vinesh silver".
GIVE VINESH SILVER! ?
¡ª Jordan Burroughs (@alliseeisgold) August 7, 2024
Though Phogat has filed an appeal, demanding that she should be declared the joint winner of the silver medal, the initial response from UWW suggests that it is unlikely to happen.
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Bobins Abraham is the Assistant News Editor at Indiatimes. He has more than twelve years of experience in TV and digital journalism. An avid student of history and geopolitics, he is a conservationist and environmentalist at heart. He writes on environment, sustainability, human-animal conflict and more.
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