OlympicTalk · May 16, 2018
Helen Maroulis wrestled in the dark with concussion
NEW YORK — Wrestler Helen Maroulis is on the short list of the world’s most dominant athletes.
She captured world championships in 2015 and 2017 without surrendering a point — a combined 87-0 in nine matches, winning the latter title with a torn thumb ligament. In between, Maroulis became the first U.S. female wrestler to take Olympic gold, beating arguably the greatest of all time in the final in Rio.
Maroulis compiled a 78-1 record over a three-year stretch competing at three different weights.
The 26-year-old was expected to extend that run of success in 2018. She flew to India in early January but did not return the same wrestler, the same person.