Entering the gold medal match of the women’s bantamweight (116 lbs.) freestyle wrestling competition, Japan’s Saori Yoshida had never lost a match in the Summer Olympics. With three gold medals, not to mention 13 world championships, to her credit Yoshida is an all-time great in the sport.
But the Olympic run came to an end Thursday afternoon, as American Helen Maroulis beat Yoshida by the final score of 4-1. Trailing 1-0 at the end of the first period, Maroulis scored a two-point takedown in the first minute of the second period. Another two-point score for Maroulis would provide the final margin, with Yoshida unable to make the scoring moves needed to keep her hopes of another gold medal alive.