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RIO DE JANEIRO -- For the last four years, Jordan Burroughs believed he had done everything imaginable to prepare himself to defend his Olympic gold medal from London. The jumps, squats, dips, pull-ups and medicine ball tosses. The early-morning runs. The sweat-filled afternoons in the wrestling room. He carefully watched everything he put in his body, choosing not to smoke or drink. And then he took it one step further, electing not to even curse, with the thought that a second Olympic gold would make him even more of a role model than he already was.But in sports, of course, nothing is guaranteed. Thats what we love about it. On any given day almost anything can happen. For every inspiring Cinderella story there is a dethroned king on the other side. And in a span of five mind-blowing hours Friday, that was Jordan Burroughs. He walked into Carioca Arena No. 2 one of the most dominant wrestlers in American history. A four-time world champion. One hundred and twenty-six times he stepped onto the wrestling mat in a major international competition. Only twice had he walked away having lost.On Friday, Burroughs lost his second match of the day 3-2 to talented Russian Aniuar Gedeuv. Five hours later, with a chance to win a bronze medal in the repechage, he was dominated by Uzbekistans Bekzod Abdurakhmonov by technical fall, 11-1. It was the most lopsided defeat of Burroughs career. And just like that, all the plans and dreams Burroughs had for his future were instantly altered.When it was over, he walked through the mixed zone, his singlet pulled down around his waist, his face painted in despair. He held his hands on his hips and stared at the fake carpet on the ground, tears falling to the floor. It would have been understandable if he would have declined requests for an interview. Or if he just would have kept his head down and ignored the outside world, retreating to the locker room to bear his emotions by himself. But thats not Burroughs. And so he stopped, looked up and revealed the raw pain for the world to see.The first words out of his mouth: Im sorry.I had so many expectations, things I wanted to do, records I wanted to set, precedents I wanted to be a part of, Burroughs said between the tears. I feel a lot of disappointment, embarrassment, disgrace. But I let myself down the most. And now I just face it. The fans, the criticism, the backlash, the trolls. Ive always made my goals public. And thats the hard part as an Olympian -- your failures are public, too.He had arrived in Rio a four-time world champion with a career record of 124-2. And he not only refused to hide from the expectations that came with such dominance but embraced and encouraged them. London was his announcement to the world that he was for real. Rio was going to be the Games that were going to make him a legend.It wasnt about sponsors or money. Burroughs had hoped that his dominance in Rio would draw enough attention to him that he would be able to start a private training program where the greatest American wrestlers could all train together. It would be modeled after the Foxcatcher program built by former American gold medalist Dave Schultz, one of Burroughs idols.Rio was also about defending his family. After losing the first two matches in his career in 2014, Burroughs had been criticized by the wrestling community for going soft. He and his girlfriend had gotten married and had their first child, a boy named Beacon. Some tried to find a correlation between his success off the mat and struggles on it. The talk burned him. So when he and Lauren had their second child, a girl named Ora Reece, in July, Burroughs was out to prove he could be a great father and the baddest man in the world.And then Friday happened. So it was of no surprise that Burroughs brought up his family in his emotional 10-minute chat with reporters after his second loss meant his tournament had finished without a medal.I feel like I let my family down, Burroughs said, his lips quivering. I missed a lot of important milestones in my childrens lives to pursue this sport. I didnt see my son walk for the first time. Ive left my wife at home with two kids in Nebraska to go to training camps and tournaments in other countries. She did that joyfully, not begrudgingly, because she knew on days like these I always performed.He paused and began to cry even harder.So now I feel like I let her down. I let her down. I let my family down. This was supposed to be my year. This was supposed to be my breakthrough performance. And it almost retracted my position in the sport. It hurts. It hurts a lot, man.Burroughs also arrived in Rio with a massive target on his back. He was the top name on the bracket, the defending world and Olympic champion. Maybe it was all just a bad combination. The weight of all Burroughs wanted to achieve combined with talented and hungry international competition that had been waiting for its opportunity to unseat the defending champion. Burroughs admitted Friday night that in the 48 hours leading up to his match the pressure had started to overwhelm him.Shame on me for thinking that what I had done would be enough because obviously I wasnt prepared, he said. Its going to hurt for a long time. I spent so much time this year promoting my personal brand and I said that I was capable of being the greatest wrestler ever. And God said Prove it. And I couldnt. And it hurts.After the match, there was little talk of specifically what went wrong on the mat. Burroughs suffered a cut on his scalp in his first match and competition had to be stopped to have a doctor deal with the cut on three different occasions. His second match was stopped as well. But he refused to make excuses. He said physically he felt fine. Instead of making excuses, he pointed at poor execution as his main problem. He didnt finish a potential shot when he had Gedeuv by the leg at one point and later wasnt able to get the turn when he was on top.Im not as good as I thought I was, he said.Where Burroughs goes from here is anyones guess. He had long said that his ultimate goal was to break John Smiths American record of six world titles. He currently has four. But each tournament that he leaves without gold adds at minimum another year to his career. To break Smiths record Burroughs now needs to wrestle until at least 2019 and thats only if he runs off three straight world championships, a feat he showed Friday isnt as easy as it seems.In the wake of Fridays defeat, USA Wrestling officials shook their heads at the degree to which Burroughs felt he had let the world down. But thats the makeup of who he is. Growing up as a boy in New Jersey, he would hide under the bleachers and cry each time he lost. After one tournament he asked if his dad would retrieve his second-place trophy for him. Leroy Burroughs refused. He taught his son that you get what you deserve. There is no such thing as a mistake.He had sacrificed so much for the training, the travel to international tournaments. He had turned down handsome paychecks to become an Ultimate Fighter because of his love for wrestling and his goal to be the greatest. And now he wondered if that goal would be forever unattainable. Before Friday, the two lone losses of his career he said would forever haunt him. To double that total in a single day wont be easy to overcome. But day by day, step by step, that process has already begun. After talking to reporters Burroughs spent some time by himself in the locker room before heading into the stands to see his family. Lauren, Beacon, Ora -- they will be the ones to pull him through.I wanted to be among the greats. I wanted to be a Simone Biles. Michael Phelps. Ashton Eaton, Burroughs said. Its unfortunate, you know? You watch the womens soccer team and the womens volleyball team and Serena and all these amazing athletes and you think, It wont be me. It wont be me. Im prepared.And then life shows you otherwise.Denis Malgin Panthers Jersey . The Islanders dealt Thomas Vanek to the Montreal Canadiens after less than a year on Long Island. Meanwhile, the Oilers dealt long-time sniper Ales hemsky to the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday for a fifth-round pick in 2014 and a third-rounder in 2015. MacKenzie Weegar Jersey .com) - The Montreal Canadiens embark on their first road trip of the season as they head out west to battle the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. http://www.hockeypanthersofficialonline.com/ian-mccoshen-hockey-jersey/ . With the first unit struggling of late and Amir Johnson - one of the teams iron men - hobbling on an injured right ankle, Patterson knew he could get the nod in a challenging matchup against one of the leagues up and coming players at his position. Keith Yandle Panthers Jersey . Calgary scored on the first shift, and Michael Cammalleri scored twice as the Flames cruised to a 5-2 win over the Washington Capitals on Saturday. Vincent Trocheck Jersey .S. -- Nikolaj Ehlers registered a hat trick for the third straight game and Jonathan Drouin had a goal and five assists as the Halifax Mooseheads hammered the host Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 10-1 on Tuesday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.SHANGHAI -- To get a sense of how much the landscape in golf is changing, consider the PGA Tour schedule next year. The Asia swing in October will have as many tournaments as the Florida swing in March.Perhaps this illustrates the suspicions seven years ago when PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem held a news conference on the final day of the HSBC Champions and whispers filled the room that it was the start of an Asian invasion.That was the first year the HSBC Champions, billed as Asias major, became a World Golf Championship.The PGA Tour added the CIMB Classic in Malaysia the following year. Justin Thomas won the seventh edition at Kuala Lumpur this year, and the next day the tour announced it had a 10-year deal with South Korean conglomerate CJ Corp. to sponsor an event in South Korea starting in 2017 that offers $9.25 million in prize money. Only the four majors, The Players Championship and the World Golf Championships have higher purses.Two days later, the PGA Tour celebrated the opening of a new Asian office in Tokyo.The PGA Tour Champions is going to Japan next year, though any regular PGA Tour event is not on the immediate horizon. Japan is hosting the Olympics in 2020. Any tournament beyond that likely would start with the World Cup and the Presidents Cup, which next has an open date on the international calendar in 2023.A weeks worth of Asian developments got the attention of the players. They now have the option of playing for $26 million over three straight weeks, although those tournaments are halfway around the world.It just seems like we should play at home, but Im not sure where the tour is trying to go, said Kevin Kisner when asked about the new tournament in South Korea. Obviously, they want to make it more of a world tour, which is great. Were playing for $9.25 million, but not all of us want to get on a plane and fly over there and play for it.Id rather have a $9.25 million purse in Aiken, South Carolina, he said with a wry smile because he lives off the 17th hole at Palmetto Golf Club. The economy is not growing fast enough in the U.S. to keep asking people to throw money at us.The LPGA Tour, ahead of the curve by necessity, is wrapping up a six-tournament swing through Asia this week.The PGA Tour is not headed down that road, not yyet and perhaps not ever.dddddddddddd The tour showed its strength when it remained fully sponsored domestically through the 2008 recession. The presence in Asia simply is recognizing where the growth is, and the tour would be foolish to ignore that.Japan is the second-largest golf market in the world. Paul Johnson, who heads up international affairs for the PGA Tour, said it has 14 sponsors that have significant business in Japan, and so a Tokyo office makes sense.Tournaments are one piece of the puzzle, and Johnson said events outside the country energizes our fan base.As sponsors globalize, we want to be in a position to work with them, Johnson said. There is a broader strategy that says we need to build our business outside the U.S. If you want to drive business, you have to be in the marketplace.No one is making players travel to Asia in October, especially after an Olympic year when three majors were crammed into a seven-week window ahead of the Rio Games.Among those who chose to sit out the HSBC Champions without injury or illness were Jordan Spieth, Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk and Zach Johnson. All have a history of being willing to travel except for Johnson, who hasnt played overseas (excluding the British Open and a Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup) in a decade. Spieth, for example, is returning to the Australian Open in two weeks.However, players might feel a need to go to Asia so they dont fall too far behind at the start of the season. Having three events makes it easier to play in two of them, particularly if they arent eligible for the HSBC Champions.Over here is great, Ryan Moore said. Its good exposure for golf, its good exposure for the PGA Tour. Ive won twice in Asia (both times in Malaysia). Ive had success, so maybe Im the wrong person to ask.Meanwhile, the Florida swing in March will have only three PGA Tour events next year because the World Golf Championship at Doral has moved to Mexico City. It will be the first time that two WGCs are held outside the United States since the series began in 1999.Times are changing.---This story has been corrected to show the next open date for the Presidents Cup is in 2023. ' ' '