Rulon with Cornrows: Helen Maroulis’ Olympic Wrestling Triumph Outside the Rio Spotlight

Outside the Rio Spotlight, #9

To be a successful American woman wrestler, you have to beat all the boys in high school without embarrassing their parents, thrive in a decentralized system that scrapes by with no funding, compete against Japan which is the New England Patriots of women's wrestling, and also look good in an evening gown.  Helen Maroulis had to drop weight to compete in the 53 kg class at the Rio Games, and she also had to relinquish her own world champion status in favor of wrestling against The Legend. Her account of the challenges to make it onto the mat and her bout against the 119-matches-in-a-row wrestling icon, Saori Yoshida, will echo famous previous upsets you may remember. Shades of Rulon Gardner and the U.S. hockey team's defeat of their Russian counterparts abound in her story, but, for Maroulis, it was mostly about having the confidence to hold her ground. (9000 words)