Patience, Perseverance And Politely Disobeying Her Parents Have Shaped Helen Marcoulis’ Trailblazing Wrestling Career

U.S. Olympic wrestling champion Helen Maroulis has grappled with a few Olympic-sized dilemmas. The 32-year-old American athlete with Greek family heritage has proved that parents don’t always know best. She trusted her young instincts and it has paid off considerably.

“I started wrestling when I was seven years old and I fell in love with the sport,” said Maroulis, who grew up wrestling alongside two brothers in Rockville, Maryland.

“My parents said wrestling is not an Olympic sport and there’s no future, so you have to quit and later that summer (September 2001) the IOC announced that women’s wrestling would be added to the Olympics. 

“From there, I decided that my dream was to go to the Olympics because that was what afforded me the opportunity to do what I love.”

Women’s wrestling made its Olympic debut at the Olympic Games Athens 2004. Maroulis became the first American women to win Olympic gold in the sport at the Olympic Games Rio 2016. She added a bronze medal at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.

In Rio, Maroulis dethroned three-time Olympic champion Saori Yoshida of Japan to win a gold medal in the women’s 53kg final. Naturally, it was a defining moment for Maroulis and an inspiration to aspiring female wrestlers across the nation.

Fast forward nearly 20 years, and once again Maroulis’ loving Greek American family shared their opinions about her prosperous international wrestling career.

“After wrestling in the finals of the world championships in 2022, I went to Greece to visit my family afterward and it was also my 30th birthday,” Maroulis says. “On my birthday, both my Dad and my Grandma told me ‘no more wrestling, just go and find a husband,’ so I told them I think it will be easier to go for a gold medal than find a husband,” she said, with a laugh. 

“We made a compromise, so here I am wrestling,” Maroulis said, as she prepares to take to the mat at her third Olympic Games representing Team USA in Paris. “I love my family and I’m so grateful to have their support.”

Also, a seven-time world championship medalist, including three gold medals, Maroulis reflected upon her trailblazing career as she readies for what she says will most likely be her final Olympic Games.

“I’m very grateful that each Olympic experience has been really different,” Maroulis said.  “Rio was my first Olympics and I think there were a lot more nerves and maybe a little bit more neuroticism. You’re preparing for something, but how do you know if what you’ve done is enough for something that you’ve never achieved before.

“Then when you’re on the top of the podium and you realize ok that you have done enough, that’s a very rewarding feeling,” she said.

However, the physicality of wrestling would take its toll on the elite level athlete along the journey to Tokyo. Between 2018-19 three concussions led to her developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

In November 2018, she underwent shoulder surgery, sidelining her for eight months.

She admitted: “It really felt as if my career was over.”

“Going into Tokyo, I was coming off a lot of head injuries concussions and a forced retirement for a period of time, so to be honest I was just happy to be mentally stable enough to make it through Tokyo. 

“That bronze was an amazing feeling and I’m very grateful for that experience, also knowing what it’s like to not win, but being at peace with doing your best. 

“I think that was life lesson.”

Maroulis informs that she feels well-prepared and in a very comfortable mindset, excited to relish her third Olympic Games alongside U.S. teammates. Women’s freestyle wrestling in her 57kg class opens on Thursday, Aug. 8, at the Champ-de-Mars Arena.

“I feel so at peace, super content and extremely grateful,” says the 32-year-old veteran wrestler. “I‘ve just had so many good cries – I’m like ‘I’ll never be four weeks out again, I’ll never be two weeks out again, I’ll never have this doubts or these nerves again.’”  

“What a gift that I get to feel this way – it makes me feel alive and makes me love what I get to pursue. It’s a blessing.”

Maroulis’ longtime coach Terry Steiner spoke about the maturity and personal growth that he has witnessed in his star wrestler over the years, dating to when she was just a precocious kid filled with hopes and dreams. 

“I remember seeing her in a clinic I did out east and she was just a little kid – you never know who the next superstar is,” Steiner tells Team USA, at a USA Wrestling news conference in Paris. “She was one of those little kids sitting there looking at you with big eyes and all of a sudden, she starts rising up.  

“Winning the gold medal was a huge accomplishment, but there’s been so much more growth since that moment, how she handles herself, her perspective of winning and what’s really important.”

“It’s really great to see that kind of growth because she didn’t always have that mindset. 

“She’s taken control and that’s a true sign of an elite athlete.”

“I think we have an amazing team here – we have half of our Olympic team from Tokyo,” Maroulis says, about the six-member women’s freestyle wrestling squad assembled in Paris. “We did the best ever in Tokyo with record medals.”

Maroulis and teammate Sarah Hildebrandt wrestled to bronze medals at Tokyo 2020, while Tamyra Mensah-Stock led the charge with gold, and Adeline Gray contributed silver.

The Maryland wrestler noted her chief rival, Risako Kawai of Japan, and assessed the competition as women’s freestyle wrestling starts on Monday, Aug. 5.

“Japan has generally been the number one team in the world for women’s wrestling,” Maroulis notes. “I’ve lost to the Japanese wrestler in my weight class in the last two world championships, so I’m really looking forward to wrestling her here.”