David Taylor might be coaching over at Oklahoma State now, but let’s be real—he wasn’t about to step off the mat without one last fight. Wrestling’s been his life, so he dove into the 2024 World Championships in Tirana, Albania, dead set on going out his way. Although Taylor clinched a bronze, the journey there wasn’t a straightforward farewell. In a surprising early-round match, he faced a tough rival, Abdulrashid Sadulaev, and quickly found himself on the wrong side of the scoreboard. For fans, it seemed like a tough ending, but Taylor himself felt different about it.

The opening defeat didn’t deter him; in fact, it gave him a new kind of direction. Taylor admitted afterward that it wasn’t about the color of the medal or the finish. Instead, it was about a feeling he’d carried with him through a lifetime of wrestling: the satisfaction of pushing himself one last time against the best in the world. But how can the magic man be satisfied?

A final battle against Sadulaev that said it all

David Taylor fought hard, but the Russian’s resilience prevailed, with the final score landing at 7-0. Speaking to United World Wrestling afterward, Taylor openly shared, “I did not score on the two times I shot, and he did. That was the difference,” reflecting on the match.

For Taylor, the bout with Sadulaev was a reminder of the razor-thin margins at this level. It was clear that to Taylor, after this loss, he wanted a personal goal, one last showdown to satisfy his competitive spirit. He needed some help to finish his long journey in this sport, and that could only be helped by Sadulaev winning gold, and he did it.

Sadulaev helped David Taylor get another chance to get a retirement medal, finally, or, we can say, closure. “It wasn’t about the color,” he said. “I was really after that closure.” Despite the loss, he found himself gaining a different kind of respect—from fans, rivals, and especially his new team back home.

Teague Travis, one of Taylor’s athletes at Oklahoma State, was moved by his coach’s resilience. “Losing in the first round and then coming back and getting third—that is probably what he expects out of us,” Travis said. Taylor’s comeback story, fighting his way through repechage and onto the podium, was an inspiring example for his young team, who now look to him not just as a coach but as someone who embodies determination.

Going for bronze, David Taylor closes the chapter on his own terms

Once Taylor was into the repechage round, he stormed through the repechage, defeating Abubakr Abakarov of Azerbaijan and Lars Schaefle of Germany, earning the right to face former World Champion Kamran Ghasempour of Iran for a chance at bronze.

In a match that many saw as a chance for redemption, David Taylor took control and clinched a 6-2 win, earning his fifth international medal in the process. The victory wasn’t just a nod to his legendary career; it symbolized his ability to come back from adversity and still finish strong.

“I just wanted to have the chance to finish on my terms,” Taylor later admitted in an interview. “Coming into this, knowing this is it, I was hyper-focused on wrestling Sadulaev. The game script of what I thought—the match went differently.” His intent after the final match of this tournament and career highlighted the fact that, despite the bronze, he still left the tournament on a high note with the closure he was seeking.