The Magic Man, aka David Taylor, is often called the king of the 86kg weight class. But this was not always the situation. The 2020 Tokyo Olympics gold medalist once dreamt about competing at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. At that time, Taylor did not even qualify for the Olympic spot.

As the 2024 Paris Olympics is on the verge, Wrestling icon David Taylor is reminiscing lesser-known facts about the approach he opted for while competing at the 2016 Olympics games.

When the 2016 Olympics was a Dream for David Taylor

Back in 2016, David Taylor did not make it to the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. Despite having a mindset that he was going to win the games, David failed to even clinch a spot at the 2016 Olympics. To remember the career-changing moment, he pulled off the curtains from his 2016 story in an interview.

In a recent revelation about David Taylor, Flowrestling took to their Twitter account and posted a video clip of Taylor recalling his 2016 Olympics. Along with the clip, they penned, “David Taylor opened up about his mentality going into the 2016 Olympic Trials, and how that event was a turning point for his career.“

In the interview, Taylor said, “When I was 16, I mean, my whole life, I thought I was going to win the Olympics in 2016….I didn’t think I was going to win the Olympics that year. And my performance showed that. I think going to weight class was a long-term approach for me, which has been the best thing I did. But in that year, I was just stressed out all the time“

He added, “I remember being in half the trials. I think I just weighed in, and I remember just being there. And I remember just started crying. I wanted it so bad. And I was so stressed about winning. I didn’t feel like I was going to do that as well the rest of the tournament. And, you know, I lost. But then after I lost, I wrestled really well on the backside of the bracket“

When Taylor was defeated, he then came back strong. After the 2016 Olympic trials defeat, Taylor went back to the training park with his partner Jayden and thought about what had happened to him. However, Taylor is now prepared to take over opponents along the way as he is ignited for the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics.

Will Taylor make the 2024 Paris Olympics Trials different?

Currently, Coach Cael Sanderson and David Taylor are preparing to clinch the 2024 Paris Olympics Gold. At the last Olympic Games held in Tokyo, Taylor defeated Hassan Yazdani in the finals and clinched the gold. Along the same lines, last year at the 2023 World Championships, Taylor again defeated Hassan Yazdani in the finals to secure the championship title.

Read More: As 2024 Paris Olympics Looms, David Taylor Reflects on the Factors That Helped Him to Be at the Top

Apart from the championship win, Taylor also qualified for the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics Trials finals. However, for Taylor, the 2016 Olympics made a big difference in his wrestling vocation as he said, “It was hard, but it made a big difference for me.”

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