Helen Maroulis

Helen Louise Maroulis (Greek: Ελένη Μαρούλη; 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]

Helen Maroulis
Maroulis in 2016
Personal information
Full nameHelen Louise Maroulis
NationalityAmerican
BornSeptember 19, 1991 (1991-09-19) (age 30)
Rockville, Maryland, U.S.
Alma materSimon Fraser University
Height5 ft 3 in (160 cm)
Weight125.6 lb (57 kg)
Sport
CountryUnited States
SportWrestling
Event(s)Freestyle
ClubNittany Lion Wrestling Club
Coached byMark Perry
Medal record
Women's freestyle wrestling
Representing  United States
Olympic Games
2016 Rio de Janeiro 53 kg
2020 Tokyo57 kg
World Championships
2015 Las Vegas 55 kg
2017 Paris 58 kg
2021 Oslo 57 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] At the age-group level, Maroulis was a three-time Junior World medalist (bronze in 2008 & 2010, silver in 2011).[2]

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. Maroulis visited her father's island a few weeks after her victory at Rio, and was given an award by the local community.[7]

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.[8] Maroulis attributes a large portion of her success to the coaching of Valentin Kalika.[9]

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.[10]

Pro Wrestling League

On January 16, 2018, Pooja Dhanda defeated Maroulis in the Pro Wrestling League.[11][12]

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[13]). 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.[14]

Match results

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 (August 19, 2016). "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. Ο Κάλαμος τίμησε την Ελένη Μαρούλη
  8. "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.
  9. 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.
  10. "Helen Maroulis' dominance continues as she wins gold at world championships".
  11. "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.
  12. Scroll Staff. "PWL: Pooja Dhanda stuns Olympic champion Helen Maroulis again as Punjab Royals defend title". Scroll.in. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  13. "Helen Maroulis wrestled in the dark with concussion". May 16, 2018.
  14. "Helen Maroulis' world championships streak ends after life-altering year". October 24, 2018.
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