David Taylor poses with his medal during the victory ceremony at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 on Aug. 05, 2021 in Chiba, Japan.
David Taylor admitted he was too sleep deprived to climb into bed and pass out once he returned home from Japan. Plus, he was still filled with adrenaline from the excitement of the past few days.
There was no way Taylor, a 2018 wrestling world champion, was going to fall asleep so soon after winning a gold medal in his Olympic debut in Tokyo.
Instead of relaxing at home, he tried to wind down with a workout that included 20 squats and 15 overhead presses. He then spent 25 minutes in a sauna.
Taylor won’t get much time to slow down and appreciate his remarkable run earlier this month at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. He has agreed to join the U.S. team that will compete at the 2021 Senior World Championships in early October in Oslo, Norway. He’ll wrestle at the same weight class he did in Tokyo — 86 kg. in men’s freestyle.
“My favorite quote, ‘You either put in the work or you don’t. There is no in between,’” Taylor wrote this week on Instagram. “7 weeks until the 2021 World Championships in Oslo, Norway. Time to refocus on the next goal.”
Taylor is one of four Americans who’ll wrestle at the world championships after medaling at the Tokyo Olympics. He’ll be joined by silver medalist Kyle Snyder (97 kg. in men’s freestyle) and bronze medalists Helen Maroulis (57 kg. in women’s freestyle) and Kyle Dake (74 kg. in men’s freestyle).
It’s a quick turnaround for the four wrestlers.
Taylor will attempt to win his second world championship only two months after he earned his first Olympic gold medal in dramatic fashion.
