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Helen Louise Maroulis (born September 19, 1991) is an American freestyle wrestler who competes in the women's 55-kg, 53-kg, and 57-kg categories. She was a gold medalist at the 2015 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas, Nevada and a gold medalist at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico. At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, she became the first-ever American to win a gold medal in women's freestyle wrestling at the Olympic Games.[1][2][3]

Background

Maroulis was born in Rockville, Maryland,[3] the daughter of Paula and Yiannis "John" Maroulis.[4] Her father is Greek.[5] She attended Magruder High School for three years, where as a freshman she became the first female wrestler to place at the Maryland state wrestling championships.[6] She was also named Most Outstanding Wrestler of a tournament, by pinning a senior boy who had won the year before, and finished high school with 99 career victories.[7]

She then moved to Marquette Senior High School in Marquette, Michigan and then went to join Missouri Baptist University women's wrestling team in Saint Louis, Missouri, before ultimately transferring to compete for Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.[8] At the age-group level, Maroulis was a three-time Junior World medalist (bronze in 2008 & 2010, silver in 2011).[4]

As of 2014, she trained at the U.S. Olympic Education Center at Northern Michigan University.[4] Her grandparents emigrated to the United States from the Greek island Kalamos in the 1960s. Maroulis visited her father's island a few weeks after her victory at Rio, and was given an award by the local community.[9]

Rio Summer Olympics 2016

Maroulis beat Japan's Saori Yoshida 4–1 to win a gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics. This was the first Olympic gold medal for the United States in a women's wrestling event.[10]

World Championship 2017

Maroulis won her third consecutive gold medal at the world championships or Olympics defeating Olympic bronze medalist Marwa Amri of Tunisia in the finals of the 58-kilogram/128-pound weight class with an 11-0 technical fall.[11]

Pro Wrestling League

On January 16, 2018, Pooja Dhanda defeated Maroulis in the Pro Wrestling League.[12][13]

World Championship 2018

Maroulis was defeated in the first round by fall by Azerbaijan's Alyona Kolesnik, a shocking upset for the defending world and Olympic champion. The defeat has been attributed to a serious head injury (a concussion from a tournament in January 2018).[14] As Maroulis stated in post-match interview "I'm so used to telling someone, hey, don't touch my head." The injury was significant enough to cause Maroulis to delay her world team qualifier match, and significantly limited her live sparring prior to the event. It is reported that she was so limited by the injury that she only returned to live practice about 10 days before her rescheduled qualifying series.[15]

Tokyo Summer Olympics 2020

Maroulis won a bronze medal by defeating Mongolia's Khongorzul Boldsaikhan after losing to Risako Kawai of Japan in the 57 kg semifinals. With the bronze medal, Maroulis became the first female wrestler in U.S. history to win two Olympic medals.[16]

Ivan Yariguin Grand Prix 2022

Maroulis won a gold medal in the 57 kg finals by forfeit as her opponent Olga Khoroshavtseva of Russia withdrew.[17][18]

2024

In 2024, she won the gold medal in the women's 57 kg event at the Pan American Wrestling Championships held in Acapulco, Mexico.[19] She defeated Giullia Penalber of Brazil in her gold medal match.[19]

Also in 2024, she became the first female American wrestler to have qualified for three Olympics, upon qualifying for the 2024 Olympics.[20]

Match results

World Championships & Olympics
Res. Record Opponent Score Date Event Location
2021 UWW world 1st place, gold medalist(s) at 57 kg
Win 32-7 India Anshu Malik Fall October 7, 2021 2021 World Championship Norway Oslo
Win 31-7 Russia Veronika Chumikova 10–1 October 6, 2021
Win 30-7 Austria Jeannie Kessler Fall
2020 Olympic 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) at 57 kg
Win 29-7 Mongolia Boldsaikhany Khongorzul 11-0 August 5, 2021 2020 Summer Olympics Japan Tokyo
Loss 28-7 Japan Risako Kawai 1–2 August 4, 2021
Win 28-6 Ukraine Tetyana Kit 8-0
Win 27-6 China Rong Ningning 8-4
2018 UWW world 21st at 57 kg
Loss 26-7 Azerbaijan Alyona Kolesnik Fall October 24, 2018 2018 World Championships Hungary Budapest
2017 UWW world 1st place, gold medalist(s) at 58 kg
Win 26-6 Tunisia Marwa Amri 11-0 August 23, 2017 2017 World Championship France Paris
Win 25-6 Canada Michelle Fazzari 10-0
Win 24-6 Dominican Republic Yessica Oviedo 11-0
Win 23-6 Sweden Elin Nilsson 10-0
Win 22-6 South Korea Hanbit Kim 10-0
2016 Olympic 1st place, gold medalist(s) at 53 kg
Win 21-6 Japan Saori Yoshida 4-1 August 18, 2016 2016 Summer Olympics Brazil Rio de Janeiro
Win 20-6 Sweden Sofia Mattsson Fall
Win 19-6 North Korea Jong Myong-suk 7-4
Win 18-6 China Zhong Xuechun 10-0
Win 17-6 Ukraine Yuliya Khalvadzhy 12-1
2015 UWW world 1st place, gold medalist(s) at 55 kg
Win 16-6 Russia Irina Ologonova 11-0 September 10, 2015 2015 World Championship United States Las Vegas, NV
Win 15-6 China Pang Qianyu 5-0
Win 14-6 Bulgaria Evelina Nikolova fall
Win 13-6 Mexico Brenda Fernández 10-0
2014 UWW world 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) at 55 kg
Win 12-6 Poland Katarzyna Krawczyk 10-0 September 10, 2014 2014 World Championship Uzbekistan Tashkent
Loss 11-6 Japan Chiho Hamada 2-6
Win 11-5 Mongolia Altansetsegiin Battsetseg fall
Win 10-5 Nicaragua Elverine Jiménez fall
2013 UWW world 7th at 55 kg
Loss 9-5 Bulgaria Mimi Hristova fall September 19, 2013 2013 World Championship Hungary Budapest
Loss 9-4 Sweden Sofia Mattsson 6-7
Win 9-3 Vietnam Phạm Thị Huệ fall
Win 8-3 North Korea Han Kum-ok fall
2012 UWW world 2nd place, silver medalist(s) at 55 kg
Loss 7-3 Japan Saori Yoshida fall September 28, 2012 2012 World Championship Canada Strathcona County, Alberta
Win 7-2 Canada Brittanee Laverdure 5-0, 4-2
Win 6-2 Greece Maria Prevolaraki 3-0, 2-0
Win 5-2 Belarus Nadzeya Mikhalkova fall
2011 UWW world 5th at 55 kg
Loss 4-2 Sweden Ida-Theres Nerell fall September 15, 2011 2011 World Championship Turkey Istanbul
Win 4-1 Mexico Alma Valencia 5-0, 4-0
Win 3-1 Turkey Emriye Musta 6-2, 6-2
Loss 2-1 Japan Saori Yoshida fall
Win 2–0 Bulgaria Valya Trandeva fall
Win 1–0 Kazakhstan Aiyim Abdildina 6-0, 5-2

References

  1. ^ "Helen Maroulis to face Venezuela's Marcia Andrades at Beat The Streets". The Open Mat. May 4, 2014. Archived from the original on May 8, 2014. Retrieved May 7, 2014.
  2. ^ Goldich, Mitch (July 19, 2021). "Q&A: Helen Maroulis's Difficult Path Back to the Olympics". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved March 19, 2022.
  3. ^ a b Woodyatt, Amy (April 11, 2023). "Helen Maroulis: Concussions left her on the 'edge of insanity.' Now, this Olympic wrestler is back and has titles in her sights". CNN. Retrieved June 4, 2023.
  4. ^ a b c "Athlete Bio: Helen Maroulis". TeamUSA.org. Archived from the original on November 2, 2016. Retrieved May 7, 2014.
  5. ^ Chrysopoulos, Philip (August 19, 2016). "Who Is Olympic Gold Medalist Helen Maroulis". USA.GreekReporter.com. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  6. ^ "Magruder's Maroulis Makes Maryland History".
  7. ^ "Rockville's Maroulis eyes spot on U.S. Olympic women's wrestling squad - Washington Times".
  8. ^ "Simon Fraser University | Canada Clan Alumna Helen Maroulis Wins Wrestling Gold for USA at Rio 2016". Athletics.sfu.ca. August 18, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  9. ^ "Ο Κάλαμος τίμησε την Ολυμπιονίκη Ελένη Μαρούλη - aromalefkadas - Ενημερωτική ιστοσελίδα της Λευκάδας".
  10. ^ "Helen Maroulis Wins First Gold Medal for U.S. in Women's Wrestling". Time. Archived from the original on September 17, 2016. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
  11. ^ "Helen Maroulis' dominance continues as she wins gold at world championships". USA Today.
  12. ^ "Pro Wrestling League: Pooja Dhanda stuns Olympic champion Helen Marouli as Punjab Royals beat Haryana Hammers - Firstpost". www.firstpost.com. January 17, 2018. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  13. ^ Scroll Staff. "PWL: Pooja Dhanda stuns Olympic champion Helen Maroulis again as Punjab Royals defend title". Scroll.in. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  14. ^ "Helen Maroulis wrestled in the dark with concussion". May 16, 2018.
  15. ^ "Helen Maroulis' world championships streak ends after life-altering year". October 24, 2018.
  16. ^ "Helen Maroulis didn't need history-making bronze to prove Olympic success isn't measured in medals". USA Today. August 5, 2021.
  17. ^ "Maroulis Wins Gold, Kilty Silver, Snyder and Nolf Advance to Yariguin Finals". January 29, 2022. Archived from the original on January 30, 2022.
  18. ^ "Golden Grand Prix Ivan Yarygin 2022 Results Book" (PDF). United World Wrestling. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 16, 2022. Retrieved February 27, 2022.
  19. ^ a b "2024 Pan American Wrestling Championships Results Book" (PDF). United World Wrestling. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 28, 2024. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  20. ^ "Maroulis makes history, reaches Olympics again". ESPN.com. April 21, 2024.

External links

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Maroulis