TWO GOLD AND TWO BRONZE MEDALS SECURED BY ASICS U.S.A. FREESYLE WRESTLERS IN LONDON

ASICS America would like to congratulate its four wrestlers who earned medals at the 2012 London Games. Reigning world freestyle champion Jordan Burroughs and Jake Varner both took home gold medals; earning Team U.S.A. the first multiple gold medal showing in wrestling since the Atlanta Games in 1996. Coleman Scott and women’s freestyle wrestler Clarissa Chun both secured bronze medals.

“ASICS is honored to have such great talent, role models and ambassadors to the sport of wrestling on its freestyle team,” says Nick Gallo, ASICS Wrestling Promotions. “Wresting is a core product category for the company and seeing Team U.S.A. embrace the STOP AT NEVER mantra at the Olympics is a tremendous accomplishment.”

Former University of Nebraska standout Jordan Burroughs claimed the gold medal in freestyle wrestling in the men’s 74 kg division where he defeated Sadegh Goudarzi of Iran in two consecutive periods 1-0, 1-0. In 2011, after his second NCAA championship, Burroughs also won a gold medal at the Pan American Games and the World Championships and won the U.S. Open Championship. Burroughs is an outstanding athlete with drive and focus, and his patented double leg takedown is unstoppable. Burroughs, who grew up in New Jersey, has won 38 straight international freestyle matches during his career.

Jake Varner defeated Valerie Andriitsev of Ukraine, 1-0, 1-0, in the final to win gold in the men’s 96 kg freestyle division. Varner has spent the past seven years under the watchful eye of ASICS coach and wrestling great Cael Sanderson. With his unmatched strength combined with the skills learned from Coach Sanderson, Varner has created his own wrestling technique. Sanderson, who won a gold medal at the 2004 Games, was present in London to witness Varner’s victory. Varner is a four-time NCAA Division One Finalist and a two-time NCAA Division One Champion.

Coleman Scott, an Oklahoma State alum, beat Japan's Kenichi Yumoto 0-1, 3-0, 3-1 in the men’s 60 kg freestyle division for a bronze medal. The former four-time All American put Yumoto on his back and racked up two points in the final seconds to win the match. Scott’s drive and stubbornness to never give up paid off to win his first Olympic medal. Scott is also a three-time Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) and four-time Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (WPIAL) champion.

Clarissa Chun gave the United Sates its first wrestling medal of the Games winning bronze in the 48 kg division of women's freestyle wrestling. Chun won her bronze-medal match 1-0, 3-0 against Ukrainian Irina Merleni. Chun became the first U.S. women's freestyle wrestler to be nominated to her second Olympic team after her winning performance at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Wrestling. She has captured many accolades including, a gold medal at the Pan American Games in 2012, a gold medal at the 2012 U.S. Open Wrestling Championships and a gold medal at the 2008 World Championships.

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Anima Sana In Corpore Sano, meaning “A Sound Mind in a Sound Body,” is an old Latin phrase from which ASICS is derived and the fundamental platform on which the brand still stands. The company was founded more than 60 years ago by Kihachiro Onitsuka and is now a leading designer and manufacturer of running shoes, as well as, other athletic footwear, apparel and accessories. For more information, visit www.asics.com.