2023 Wrestling World Championships: Inspired by fatherhood, David Taylor pins Hassan Yazdani to retain 86kg freestyle crown
Reigning Olympic champion Taylor defeated his perennial rival from the Islamic Republic of Iran to take gold in the Serbian capital Belgrade.
Wrestling
Olympic champion David Taylor successfully defended his 86kg freestyle crown by pinning arch-rival Hassan Yazdani in their final at the 2023 World Wrestling Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, on Sunday (17 September).
Taylor has won three of their last four global 86kg freestyle finals with both wrestlers boasting three world titles apiece. The duo have a vice-like hold on the weight class, combining to win every major title since 2017.
The 'Magic Man' led 5-3 before extending his advantage to four with just over a minute left on the clock. The American then delivered the decisive blow as he pinned the Iranian with just three seconds to go.
Taylor had won four of their previous five previous bouts including a dramatic victory in the Tokyo 2020 (in 2021) final.
Yazdani, who won 74kg gold at Rio 2016, successfully moved up to the 86kg weight class with world titles in 2017, 2019 and 2021.
"When you're younger, you think you can do it all on your own: I'm good, I'm the best," Taylor told Olympics.com after his latest win in Belgrade.
"But as I've got older, it's not like that honestly. It's my team around me. I'm just so grateful for them, my wife, my amazing support system, my girls.
"My daughter has just started playing soft shots (wrestling) and she gave me her first medal saying, 'Daddy, I want you to look at this every day and I want you to be a champion'. That's a priceless moment.
"I miss them so much but I'm also doing it for them. I want them to be proud of their dad, for having some heart and some grit, something that in society you don't get to do very often.
Taylor also praised his rivalry with Yazdani, noting how they had evolved their styles against each other, and pushed eachother to new heights.
"It's changed so much. When I first started wrestling it was a firefight. That's what Yazdani's natural instincts are like: a firefight," Taylor continued.
"As time has gone on we've become more calculated and he got the better of me, so I had to make some adjustments and I remember thinking after Oslo [2021 World Championships when Yazdani beat Taylor in the final] that he had surpassed me and it refocussed me.
"Now, one year out from the Olympics, I'm focussed on defending my title and it's about just finding a way to get it done every time. I was so well prepared for this and now I'll have to make changes again because this is going to be tough."
This tournament is serving as the first qualifying event for the Olympic Games Paris 2024, with five quota places on offer in each Olympic weight class - across men's freestyle, Greco-Roman and women's freestyle - making a total of 90.
Elsewhere on Sunday, Iranian Amir Zare delivered an 11-0 technical superiority victory over Geno Petriashvili of Georgia to claim his second world title in the 125kg freestyle.
In the non-Olympic weight classes, Zain Retherford of the United States beat Iran’s Amirmohammad Yazdanicherati 8-5 in the 70kg final.
Vitali Arujau won the United States’ third gold medal of the night overcoming Abasgadzhi Magomedov 10-9 in their 61kg bout.
Where to watch the 2023 Wrestling World Championships
The Wrestling's 2023 Senior World Championships takes place 16-24 September.
The event will be streamed live on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com for most of the world and you can watch the action here.
There is also coverage on the United World Wrestling website here (Regional restrictions may apply).