Helen Maroulis

Helen Louise Maroulis (born September 19, 1991) is an American freestyle wrestler who competes in the women's 55-kg and 53-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]

Helen Maroulis
Maroulis in 2016
Personal information
Full nameHelen Louise Maroulis
NationalityAmerican
BornSeptember 19, 1991 (1991-09-19) (age 28)
Rockville, Maryland, U.S.
Alma materSimon Fraser University
Height5 ft 3 in (160 cm)
Weight116.5 lb (53 kg)
Life partner(s)None
Sport
CountryUnited States
SportWrestling
Event(s)Freestyle
ClubSunkist Kids
Coached byValentin Kalika
Medal record
Women's freestyle wrestling
Representing  United States
Olympic Games
2016 Rio de Janeiro 53 kg
World Championships
2015 Las Vegas 55 kg
2017 Paris 58 kg
2012 Canada 55 kg
2014 Tashkent 55 kg
Pan American Games
2011 Guadalajara 55 kg
Updated on August 23, 2017.

Background

Maroulis was born in Rockville, Maryland, the daughter of Paula and Yiannis "John" Maroulis.[2] Her father is Greek.[3] 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[4] and also was named Most Outstanding Wrestler of a tournament by pinning the senior boy who had won that title the year before, all on the way to 99 high school career victories.[5]

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.[6]

She now trains at the U.S. Olympic Education Center at Northern Michigan University.[2] Her grandparents emigrated to the United States from the Greek island Kalamos in the 1960s.

Rio 2016

Maroulis beat 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.[7] Maroulis attributes a large portion of her success to the coaching of Valentin Kalika.[8]

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.[9]

Pro Wrestling League

On January 16, 2018, Pooja Dhanda defeated Maroulis in the Pro Wrestling League.[10][11]

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 (concussion from a tournament in January 2018[12]). 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. [13]

Match results
World Championships & Olympics
Res. Record Opponent Score Date Event Location
2018 UWW world 21st at 57 kg
Loss 26-7 Alyona Kolesnik Fall October 24, 2018 2018 World Championships Budapest
2017 UWW world at 58 kg
Win 26-6 Marwa Amri 11-0 August 23, 2017 2017 World Championship Paris
Win 25-6 Michelle Fazzari 10-0
Win 24-6 Yessica Oviedo 11-0
Win 23-6 Elin Nilsson 10-0
Win 22-6 Hanbit Kim 10-0
2016 Olympic at 53 kg
Win 21-6 Saori Yoshida 4-1 August 18, 2016 2016 Summer Olympics Rio de Janeiro
Win 20-6 Sofia Mattsson Fall
Win 19-6 Jong Myong-suk 7-4
Win 18-6 Zhong Xuechun 10-0
Win 17-6 Yuliya Khalvadzhy 12-1
2015 UWW world at 55 kg
Win 16-6 Irina Ologonova 11-0 September 10, 2015 2015 World Championship Las Vegas, NV
Win 15-6 Pang Qianyu 5-0
Win 14-6 Evelina Nikolova fall
Win 13-6 Brenda Fernández 10-0
2014 UWW world at 55 kg
Win 12-6 Katarzyna Krawczyk 10-0 September 10, 2014 2014 World Championship Tashkent
Loss 11-6 Chiho Hamada 2-6
Win 11-5 Altansetsegiin Battsetseg fall
Win 10-5 Elverine Jiménez fall
2013 UWW world 7th at 55 kg
Loss 9-5 Mimi Hristova fall September 19, 2013 2013 World Championship Budapest
Loss 9-4 Sofia Mattsson 6-7
Win 9-3 Phạm Thị Huệ fall
Win 8-3 Han Kum-ok fall
2012 UWW world at 55 kg
Loss 7-3 Saori Yoshida fall September 28, 2012 2012 World Championship Strathcona County, Alberta
Win 7-2 Brittanee Laverdure 5-0, 4-2
Win 6-2 Maria Prevolaraki 3-0, 2-0
Win 5-2 Nadzeya Mikhalkova fall
2011 UWW world 5th at 55 kg
Loss 4-2 Ida-Theres Nerell fall September 15, 2011 2011 World Championship Istanbul
Win 4-1 Alma Valencia 5-0, 4-0
Win 3-1 Emriye Musta 6-2, 6-2
Loss 2-1 Saori Yoshida fall
Win 2–0 Valya Trandeva fall
Win 1–0 Aiyim Abdildina 6-0, 5-2
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References
  1. "Helen Maroulis to face Venezuela's Marcia Andrades at Beat The Streets". The Open Mat. May 4, 2014. Retrieved May 7, 2014.
  2. "Athlete Bio: Helen Maroulis". TeamUSA.org. Archived from the original on November 2, 2016. Retrieved May 7, 2014.
  3. Chrysopoulos, Philip. "Who Is Olympic Gold Medalist Helen Maroulis". USA.GreekReporter.com. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  4. "Magruder's Maroulis Makes Maryland History".
  5. "Rockville's Maroulis eyes spot on U.S. Olympic women's wrestling squad".
  6. "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.
  7. "Helen Maroulis Wins First Gold Medal for U.S. in Women's Wrestling". Time. Time. Archived from the original on September 17, 2016. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
  8. Berg, Aimee (August 20, 2016). "Helen Maroulis Trained With Champions To Become the First American Woman Wrestler to Win Gold". Sports.Vice.com. Archived from the original on August 20, 2016. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
  9. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2017/08/23/helen-maroulis-dominance-continues-gold-world-championships/595506001/
  10. "Pro Wrestling League: Pooja Dhanda stuns Olympic champion Helen Marouli as Punjab Royals beat Haryana Hammers - Firstpost". www.firstpost.com. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  11. Staff, Scroll. "PWL: Pooja Dhanda stuns Olympic champion Helen Maroulis again as Punjab Royals defend title". Scroll.in. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  12. https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2018/05/16/helen-maroulis-wrestling-concussion/
  13. https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2018/10/24/helen-maroulis-wrestling-world-championships/
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