The man who many consider the best Wrestler in the world, defending Olympic and world champion Jordan Burroughs has been eliminated from the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics by Russia’s Aniuar Geduev in the quarter-finals of men’s 74kg freestyle wrestling.

Geduev, ranked n.2 in the world, beat the American 3-2. The Russian is a three-time European champion. This was Burroughs 3rd loss in international competition since he started his career.

Since Geduev made it to the finals, Burroughs still had a chance for at least bronze since he entered the repechage. He faced Uzbekistan’s Bekzod Abdurakhmonov and was routed 11-1.

Geduev faced Iran’s Hassan Yazdanicharati for the gold at 74kg, and was beaten 3-1.

A devastated Burroughs told Flowrestling.com following his second loss of the day:

“It’s a tough day. I had a lot of expectations coming here. I wanted to win. I knew I was capable of winning. Sometimes things don’t go according to plan,” Burroughs said. “I lost a lot of things today. But my integrity and my character remain.”

“I felt ready,” Burroughs said, sounding perplexed about how it all went so wrong. “That’s the hardest part of all of this. I live my lifestyle the right way. I don’t smoke. I don’t drink. I don’t go out and party. I’m a family man. I take care of business. I train hard. I’m an ambassador for the sport of wrestling. A lot of people were counting on me today.”

“I feel like I let my family down, my kids,” Burroughs said. “I missed a lot of important” — he chokes back a sob — “milestones in my children’s lives to pursue this sport.

“I didn’t see my son walk for the first time. I’ve left my wife at home with two kids for long periods of time to go to training camps, to foreign countries. She did that joyfully, not begrudgingly, because she knew on days like these I always fulfilled my end of it.

“Now I feel like I let her down, I let my family down,” he said. “This is supposed to be my breakthrough performance that cemented me as a legend in the sport. And it almost retracted my position in the sport. It hurts me. It hurts a lot.”

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