Athlete

The worst thing for me would be going back to where I was - relative obscurity.

I take a lot of pride in beating guys like Kyle Dake or David Taylor or these guys who have been basically bred to do this from Day 1. The best camps, the best high schools, the best universities. I never had that. It's not necessary, but I never had any of the frills a lot of those guys had.

I don't describe myself as a nationalist, but I do love my country.

It's been a lot of responsibility to be an ambassador for U.S. wrestling and the sport. It's a tough journey. There's a lot of obligations but also a lot of opportunity.

Nebraska and Indiana were really the only Division One schools that expressed any interest in me.

I love the sport of wrestling because it's a testament of your will and what you're capable of as a man.

It's harder to be a dad than an Olympic champion.

I've become close with Masoud Esmaeilpour and consider him a friend. We send each other messages from time to time on Instagram, checking in to see how the other is doing. Whenever I see him, he's always a gentleman, giving me tips about my next opponent. There is a tremendous amount of respect in our friendship.

Anything less than gold is a failure to me. It's extreme pressure, but I hold myself to a high standard.

I think Americans, as a nation and culture, once something is recognized for a week or two, people kind of forget about.

There was a time period where I was obsessed with the rivalry between the Lakers and the Celtics in the 1980s.

Once you've reached the highest level, you always want to get back there. It's like, once you drive a Ferrari, you're not satisfied driving a Honda anymore.

Within the realm of wrestling, it's been the same every year - just continually trying to improve and evolve as a wrestler, putting myself in a position to not maintain but maximize my potential.

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.

I've got the ability to control my destiny, and I take pride in that.

It's one thing to never accomplish anything. You start from the bottom, you remain at the bottom, and all you know is the bottom. When you start at the bottom and you get to the top, and you feel the success and the notoriety and the recognition from being the champion, and you go back to losing, that's a tough place to be in.

I think every athlete is afraid for their career to be over.

It's a difficult place being on top because, for me, beating the Average Joe has no significance, but for the Average Joe, beating me could be the biggest match of his life, potentially.

For Americans, of course, it's football, basketball, and baseball. We live for it. In many ways, it sums up who we are. In Iran, it's all about wrestling. The patriotism toward their country comes out in the way they wrestle, so it makes sense why they're the best.

I've had matches that were close.