It doesn’t matter what country you represent; everyone loves an underdog story and Helen Louise Maroulis provided that in what might have been the biggest upset of the Rio Olympics. Not too shabby for a day’s work on the mat.
Helen Louise Maroulis might have the most unexpected U.S. gold of 2016
Facing the only other woman who’s ever won gold in this event, Maroulis pulled off a major upset.Watch on YouTube | Subscribe to SB Nation on YouTube
On Thursday, Maroulis became the first American female to ever capture a gold medal in wrestling after she upset Japan’s Saori Yoshida, 4-1. Since Women’s Wrestling became an event in the modern Olympics in 2004, Yoshida has won every gold medal awarded in the 53kg weight class. In addition to her 3 Olympic gold medals, Yoshida is a 13-time World Champion, having only lost 2 matches in the past 14 years.
Heading into Rio, Maroulis confided to NBC Sports that she thought she would be the biggest failure of the Olympics. The 24-year-old Rockville, Maryland native is a big time foodie and struggled to drop weight in order to wrestle in the 53kg weight class. (She usually wrestles in the weight 55kg, but it’s not a recognized Olympic category.)
By capturing gold, Maroulis has now won 62 straight matches proving she can have her cake and eat it too.
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