United States wrestler Helen Maroulis made history in Rio de Janeiro Thursday, becoming the first American woman to win an Olympic wrestling gold medal.
Maroulis upset three-time Olympic gold medalist Saori Yoshida of Japan in the freestyle wrestling 53-kilogram gold medal match. Yoshida had won the 55-kilogram division in 2004, 2008 and 2012, but was beaten 4-1 by Maroulis in the 53-kg final Thursday (Weight classes were rearranged before the 2016 Games).
Japan has dominated women’s wrestling since it was introduced as an Olympic sport in 2004. In the flyweight, lightweight and middleweight divisions, it had claimed seven of the nine available gold medals. In the two events it didn’t win, a Japanese wrestler finished second.
Yoshida, 33, who now has three Olympic golds and a silver, is the winningest wrestler in history, male or female. She has won 13 gold medals at the World Championships.
But she was in tears after falling to Maroulis. She was even inconsolable while receiving her silver medal on the podium.
Maroulis, meanwhile, ran around the arena with an American flag above her head, then cried tears of joy with a gold medal around her neck while the U.S. national anthem played.
Yoshida led the match 1-0 after one period, but Maroulis took a 2-1 lead early in the second with a takedown. She then extended it to a 4-1 lead in the final minute of the second period, and held on for victory.
Maroulis, 24, from Rockville, Md., had won the 55-kg weight class at the World Championships in 2015, with Yoshida wrestling at 53-kg. In fact, Maroulis hasn’t lost a match since 2014.
En route to the final, Maroulis had wrestled her way past Yuliia Khavaldzhy Blahinya of Ukraine, Xuechun Zhong of China, Myong Suk Jong of North Korea, and Sofia Mattsson of Sweden.
The best finish by a U.S. female wrestler prior to Maroulis’ gold was Sara McMann’s middleweight silver in 2004. Three American women won bronze between 2004 and 2012
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