Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Full name | Helen Louise Maroulis | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | September 19, 1991 32) Rockville, Maryland, U.S. | (age|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Alma mater | Simon Fraser University | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 5 ft 3 in (160 cm) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 57 kg (126 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Country | United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Wrestling | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Event | Freestyle | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Club | Sunkist Kids | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coached by | Mark Perry | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
|
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]
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]
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]
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]
On January 16, 2018, Pooja Dhanda defeated Maroulis in the Pro Wrestling League. [12] [13]
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]
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]
Maroulis won a gold medal in the 57 kg finals by forfeit as her opponent Olga Khoroshavtseva of Russia withdrew. [17] [18]
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]
Sofia Magdalena Mattsson is a Swedish wrestler, who has won a World Championship, four European championships and an Olympic bronze medal.
Geeta Phogat is a freestyle wrestler who won India's first ever gold medal in wrestling at the Commonwealth Games in 2010. She is also the first Indian female wrestler to have qualified for the Olympic Summer Games.
Pooja Dhanda is an Indian wrestler from Budana village of Hisar district in Haryana, who won Bronze medal at the 2018 World Championships at Budapest in 57 kg weight class. She won Silver medals at 2010 Summer Youth Olympics and 2018 Commonwealth Games at Gold Coast in 60 kg and 57 kg category respectively. The grappler also won a Bronze at the 2014 Asian Wrestling Championship. Pooja has defeated Olympic and World Championship medalists. Government of India honoured her with the Arjuna award for outstanding performance in the field of Sports.
Adeline Maria Gray is an American freestyle wrestler who currently competes at 76 kilograms. She is a six-time world champion and a two-time Olympian, with the silver medal in her event at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She is the first American woman to win back-to-back wrestling world titles since Tricia Saunders in 1998 and 1999. She is also the first American woman wrestler to win six world championships.
Aisuluu Tynybekova is a Kyrgyz freestyle wrestler. She won the silver medal in the women's 62 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan. She also competed in the women's 63 kg event at the 2012 Summer Olympics, the first woman to wrestle for Kyrgyzstan in the Olympics. A legal dispute threatened to prevent Tynybekova from competing in London, but the case was delayed until after the Games. Tynybekova was eliminated in the 1/8 finals by Henna Johansson.
Vinesh Phogat is an Indian wrestler. She became the first Indian woman wrestler to win a gold at both the Commonwealth and Asian Games. She is the only Indian woman wrestler to win multiple medals at the World Wrestling Championships. Phogat became the first Indian athlete to be nominated for the Laureus World Sports Awards in 2019.
Odunayo Folasade Adekuoroye is a Nigerian freestyle wrestler. She competed in the women's freestyle 53 kg event at the 2014 Commonwealth Games where she won the gold medal and at the 2015 World Wrestling Championships where she won a bronze medal. She won the silver medal at the women's freestyle 55 kilograms 2017 World Wrestling Championships.
Buse Tosun Çavuşoğlu is a Turkish world-champion freestyle wrestler. She is a member of Yalova Çiftlikköy Belediyesi S.K. She won the gold medal at the 2023 World Wrestling Championships and 2024 European Wrestling Championships.
Meerim Zhumanazarova is a Kyrgyzstani freestyle wrestler. She holds the title of Master of Sport of International Class in Kyrgyzstan. She won a bronze medal in the women's 68 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. She also won the gold medal in the same event at the 2021 World Wrestling Championships in Oslo, Norway.
Tamyra Mariama Mensah-Stock is an American professional wrestler. She is signed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) under a developmental NIL contract.
Anna Carmen Schell is a German freestyle wrestler. She is a two-time bronze medalist at the World Wrestling Championships and a two-time medalist, including gold, at the European Wrestling Championships. She also represented Germany at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
Iryna Alyaksandrauna Kurachkina is a Belarusian freestyle wrestler. She won the silver medal in the women's 57 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan. Kurachkina is also a two-time bronze medalist at the World Wrestling Championships and a five-time medalist, including three golds, at the European Wrestling Championships. She also won the gold medal in her event at the 2019 European Games held in Minsk, Belarus.
Bilyana Zhivkova Dudova is a Bulgarian freestyle wrestler. She won the gold medal in the women's 59 kg event at the 2021 World Wrestling Championships in Oslo, Norway. She also won silver at the 2018 World Wrestling Championships and she is a six-time medalist, including four golds, at the European Wrestling Championships.
Olga Nikolayevna Khoroshavtseva is a Russian freestyle wrestler. She is a two-time gold medalist at the European Wrestling Championships. She also won a bronze medal in the women's 55 kg event at the 2019 World Wrestling Championships held in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan. She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
Grace Jacob Bullen is a Norwegian freestyle wrestler. She won the silver medal in the 59 kg event at the 2022 World Wrestling Championships held in Belgrade, Serbia. She is a five-time medalist, including three gold medals, at the European Wrestling Championships. Bullen also won a bronze medal for Norway at the 2015 European Games held in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Khanum Elshad-Kysy Velieva is a Russian freestyle wrestler. She is a bronze medalist at the World Wrestling Championships and a two-time medalist, including gold, at the European Wrestling Championships. In 2021, she competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
Zhamila Bakbergenova is a Kazakhstani freestyle wrestler. She is a three-time medalist in the women's 72 kg event at the World Wrestling Championships. She is a five-time medalist, including three gold medals, at the Asian Wrestling Championships. She is also a two-time medalist at the Islamic Solidarity Games.
Anshu Malik is an Indian freestyle wrestler, supported by OGQ. She won the silver medal in the women's 57 kg event at the 2021 World Wrestling Championships held in Oslo, Norway. She is the first Indian wrestler to win a silver medal at the World Championships in the women's division.
Alla Belinska is a Ukrainian freestyle wrestler. She is a three-time medalist, including gold, at the European Wrestling Championships. She represented Ukraine at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
Veronika Gennadievna Chumikova is a Russian freestyle wrestler of Chuvash heritage. She is a silver medalist at the European Wrestling Championships. She also won a medal at the Golden Grand Prix Ivan Yarygin held in Krasnoyarsk, Russia on six occasions.