Helen Maroulis

Last updated

Helen Maroulis
Helen Maroulis (29278073625) (cropped).jpg
Maroulis in 2016
Personal information
Full nameHelen Louise Maroulis
BornSeptember 19, 1991 (1991-09-19) (age 32)
Rockville, Maryland, U.S.
Alma mater Simon Fraser University
Height5 ft 3 in (160 cm)
Weight57 kg (126 lb)
Sport
CountryUnited States
Sport Wrestling
Event Freestyle
Club Sunkist Kids
Coached byMark Perry
Medal record
Women's freestyle wrestling
Representing the Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Olympic Games
Olympic rings.svg
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2016 Rio de Janeiro 53 kg
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2020 Tokyo 57 kg
World Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2015 Las Vegas 55 kg
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2017 Paris 58 kg
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2021 Oslo 57 kg
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2012 Canada 55 kg
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2022 Belgrade 57 kg
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2014 Tashkent 55 kg
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2023 Belgrade 57 kg
World Cup
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2013 Ulan-Baatar55 kg
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2009 Taiyuan 51 kg
Pan American Games
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2011 Guadalajara 55 kg
Pan American Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg2012 Colorado Springs55 kg
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg2024 Acapulco57 kg
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg2009 Maracaibo55 kg
Golden Grand Prix
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg2015 Baku53 kg
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg2014 Baku55 kg
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg2013 Baku 55 kg
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg2010 Klippan 55 kg
Golden Grand Prix Ivan Yarygin
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2022 Krasnoyarsk 57 kg
World Juniors Championships
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2011 Bucharest 55 kg
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2010 Budapest 55 kg
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2008 Istanbul 51 kg

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]

Contents

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.RecordOpponentScoreDateEventLocation
2021 UWW world Gold medal icon.svg at 57 kg
Win32-7 Flag of India.svg Anshu Malik FallOctober 7, 2021 2021 World Championship Flag of Norway.svg Oslo
Win31-7 Flag of Russia.svg Veronika Chumikova 10–1October 6, 2021
Win30-7 Flag of Austria.svg Jeannie KesslerFall
2020 Olympic Bronze medal icon.svg at 57 kg
Win29-7 Flag of Mongolia.svg Boldsaikhany Khongorzul 11-0August 5, 2021 2020 Summer Olympics Flag of Japan.svg Tokyo
Loss28-7 Flag of Japan.svg Risako Kawai 1–2August 4, 2021
Win28-6 Flag of Ukraine.svg Tetyana Kit 8-0
Win27-6 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Rong Ningning 8-4
2018 UWW world 21st at 57 kg
Loss26-7 Flag of Azerbaijan.svg Alyona Kolesnik FallOctober 24, 2018 2018 World Championships Flag of Hungary.svg Budapest
2017 UWW world Gold medal icon.svg at 58 kg
Win26-6 Flag of Tunisia.svg Marwa Amri 11-0August 23, 2017 2017 World Championship Flag of France.svg Paris
Win25-6 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Michelle Fazzari 10-0
Win24-6 Flag of the Dominican Republic.svg Yessica Oviedo11-0
Win23-6 Flag of Sweden.svg Elin Nilsson10-0
Win22-6 Flag of South Korea.svg Hanbit Kim10-0
2016 Olympic Gold medal icon.svg at 53 kg
Win21-6 Flag of Japan.svg Saori Yoshida 4-1August 18, 2016 2016 Summer Olympics Flag of Brazil.svg Rio de Janeiro
Win20-6 Flag of Sweden.svg Sofia Mattsson Fall
Win19-6 Flag of North Korea.svg Jong Myong-suk 7-4
Win18-6 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Zhong Xuechun 10-0
Win17-6 Flag of Ukraine.svg Yuliya Khalvadzhy 12-1
2015 UWW world Gold medal icon.svg at 55 kg
Win16-6 Flag of Russia.svg Irina Ologonova 11-0September 10, 2015 2015 World Championship Flag of the United States.svg Las Vegas, NV
Win15-6 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Pang Qianyu 5-0
Win14-6 Flag of Bulgaria.svg Evelina Nikolova fall
Win13-6 Flag of Mexico.svg Brenda Fernández10-0
2014 UWW world Bronze medal icon.svg at 55 kg
Win12-6 Flag of Poland.svg Katarzyna Krawczyk 10-0September 10, 2014 2014 World Championship Flag of Uzbekistan.svg Tashkent
Loss11-6 Flag of Japan.svg Chiho Hamada 2-6
Win11-5 Flag of Mongolia.svg Altansetsegiin Battsetsegfall
Win10-5 Flag of Nicaragua.svg Elverine Jiménezfall
2013 UWW world 7th at 55 kg
Loss9-5 Flag of Bulgaria.svg Mimi Hristova fallSeptember 19, 2013 2013 World Championship Flag of Hungary.svg Budapest
Loss9-4 Flag of Sweden.svg Sofia Mattsson 6-7
Win9-3 Flag of Vietnam.svg Phạm Thị Huệfall
Win8-3 Flag of North Korea.svg Han Kum-okfall
2012 UWW world Silver medal icon.svg at 55 kg
Loss7-3 Flag of Japan.svg Saori Yoshida fallSeptember 28, 2012 2012 World Championship Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Strathcona County, Alberta
Win7-2 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Brittanee Laverdure 5-0, 4-2
Win6-2 Flag of Greece.svg Maria Prevolaraki 3-0, 2-0
Win5-2 Flag of Belarus.svg Nadzeya Mikhalkovafall
2011 UWW world 5th at 55 kg
Loss4-2 Flag of Sweden.svg Ida-Theres Nerell fallSeptember 15, 2011 2011 World Championship Flag of Turkey.svg Istanbul
Win4-1 Flag of Mexico.svg Alma Valencia5-0, 4-0
Win3-1 Flag of Turkey.svg Emriye Musta6-2, 6-2
Loss2-1 Flag of Japan.svg Saori Yoshida fall
Win2–0 Flag of Bulgaria.svg Valya Trandevafall
Win1–0 Flag of Kazakhstan.svg Aiyim Abdildina 6-0, 5-2

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References

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  2. Goldich, Mitch (July 19, 2021). "Q&A: Helen Maroulis's Difficult Path Back to the Olympics". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved March 19, 2022.
  3. 1 2 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.
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  6. "Magruder's Maroulis Makes Maryland History".
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  11. "Helen Maroulis' dominance continues as she wins gold at world championships". USA Today .
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