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Helen Maroulis becomes first American woman to win wrestling gold

Related Topics: Gold medal, Woman, Saori Yoshida

Helen Maroulis became the first American woman to a win a gold medal in wrestling on Thursday.

Maroulis, 24, defeated three-time defending gold medalist Saori Yoshida for first place in the 53kg division of women’s freestyle at the Rio Olympics.

The 33-year-old Yoshida, competing for Japan, is a 13-time world champion in the sport. She had not lost a match since the 2012 games in London.

Maroulis, a native of Maryland, also won a world title in 2015. She is only the third person to defeat Yoshida.